


For Myself

by Chaos65



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire & Related Fandoms, A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV), Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: AU, Action/Adventure, Adventure, Animagus, Blackfyre, Death has no master, Elements from ASOIAF, English is my 2nd Language, Essos, F/M, GoT universe, Harry in another universe, Harry is a Blackfyre, Magic, Reincarnation, Set before the cannon of GoT, World Travel
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-12-16
Updated: 2021-04-17
Packaged: 2021-04-18 13:13:44
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 19
Words: 96,984
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21812065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chaos65/pseuds/Chaos65
Summary: Harry always knew that his luck might not be the best. But to be sent to another world so Death could have more entertainment from his life? He might as well use this chance for new life and live it by his rules.It is my work from another site. Someone recommended posting it here, so there you go.Warning: English is my 2nd Language and while I try to keep my work at the highest level I can, I will make errors. Sorry.
Comments: 71
Kudos: 520





	1. Goodbye Cruel World

**Disclaimer: I don't own Harry Potter or GoT.**

* * *

**Chapter 1. Goodbye Cruel World**

* * *

If there was one thing in Harry Potter's life that was certain, it was his luck... or lack of it. Since he was a baby the world was against him.

Quick example?

His birth for one. One would ask, why do you think that your own birth was the unlucky moment?

The answer was pretty simple. A prophecy was given by a madwoman that caused another madman to go after young Harry's life since the moment he took his first breath. Then, of course, he killed the young boy's parents and everything went downhill. At least for the boy.

While the whole wizarding world was celebrating the defeat of Voldemort, Harry was sent to his 'oh so loving' relatives. It looked like the boy's own family couldn't get past their bigotry towards magic even when it came to their own nephew.

Of course, even if they didn't like him or even hated him, they never abused the child. Well, physically at least even if they didn't give him too much food. Now mental abuse was a totally different thing, but Harry got through it all and on the day of his eleventh birthday he received his Hogwarts letter.

Harry got introduced to the whole new world and he was never happier. Looking back, he now realized he probably should have been a little more careful about going into a completely foreign world.

Finally, after the wait, he got to Hogwarts, meet two of his best friends and began seven years of adventures. Again now that he was an adult, he was not so sure if anyone in the wizarding world had something called common sense. Probably not.

Really who would create an obstacle course that every first-year could beat? Or who in their right mind would leave the job of dealing with Basilisk to 2nd-year students.

And lets not even talk about later years. Really, Harry should have realized a long time ago that something was wrong.

Anyway, as everybody knows, Harry defeated Voldemort in his 7th year and the wizarding world was again at peace... or it should have been. Unfortunately, even if you defeat Voldemort, it doesn't mean that his every supporter would just disappear and blood supremacy will go away.

No, the bigots were still there even if a large number of them got caught and went to Azkaban.

Harry himself hoped that with the defeat of Voldemort, his life will get simpler and he would finally have some peace. And he got it for quite some time. Harry managed to complete his schooling and then got into Auror corps. He got offered a position in it after the war but he wanted to get there like everyone else.

He spent a few years as an Auror while trying to put his life together with Ginny. It didn't work out too well and after three years they broke up. They still remained friends, but they knew that there wouldn't be anything romantic between them.

While Harry knew that it was for the best, he was still sad. So to forget about this situation, Harry decided to focus on his career and maybe better himself when it came to magic. People expected him to be the new Dumbledore, so he might as well get a little better and learn more than what he got from Hogwarts and Auror training.

It was a good idea as he quite enjoyed learning new things now that he didn't have a Dark Lord after him.

Unfortunately, his peace ended when he was 26 years old. Some purebloods managed to get out of jail thanks to their full vaults and with time most of them were free. At first, they were quiet and no one cared what they do, but after some time of silence, they again began moving.

This time they didn't have anyone leading them, but it didn't mean they were less organized. Again they targeted muggle-borns, half-bloods and after some time there were signs of wizard attacks on muggles.

So that's how the next wizarding war started.

Harry himself fought hard against this new enemy, but he quickly discovered why every previous war took so much time.

At first, Aurors were not allowed to use anything lethal and Harry was alright with it, but after a few months of constant escapes from Azkaban, he noticed that they won't win this war by stunning everyone. So with a heavy heart, Harry sent a request to the current Head of DMLE. He demanded to be given permission for Aurors, to use lethal means while fighting those new adversaries. It worked in the first war when Barty Crouch Sr. gave the same order so why not now.

Thanks to his fame, the permission was given in the next week. Harry didn't notice it then but some people were surprised at his request and many of them didn't like it.

Still, thanks to the permission, some of the blood purists got killed while others were again sent to Azkaban. Harry wasn't happy about his actions, but he knew there was no other way. Those people were given multiple chances to change and they still went back to their old ways. If prison can't hold them, then death should.

After a few months, the Auror force managed to stop the war and peace again came to the wizarding world. Harry was quite tired so he decided to take some time off from his job and maybe visit some magical places around the world that Hermione always spoke of.

Unfortunately, it was not to be as when he was walking back to his home from a shop in the muggle world, someone decided to attack him. It wasn't too big of a surprise as Harry already went through some ambushes in his life. Unluckily this time Harry was alone and highly outnumbered.

Yeah, he might be a better fighter than anyone he knew, but taking on seven wizards by himself might be stretching it a bit. Still, Harry was never one to give up and he quickly began the exchange of spells with his adversaries.

The fight lasted for about ten minutes and Harry was proud to say that he managed to take out three of his enemies before the familiar green spell hit him in the chest.

With a final breath, Harry Potter closed his eyes and departed from this world for the last time.

* * *

Harry was prepared for a lot of things when he died... again but didn't really expect to wake up at King's Cross Station... again. Once more the station was much too bright for Harry's liking but that wasn't something important so he quickly looked around to see if this time someone is waiting for him.

And again someone was waiting, Harry just couldn't tell what this 'something' was. It looked like a woman... or a man. Harry couldn't tell. Whatever it was it had a lot of decaying flesh instead of normal skin and the being was only clothed by a cloak that one would find on dementors. Harry couldn't see its face apart from the black eyes that shined under the hood.

Now Harry always was someone to charge ahead and even if he lost some of his old quirks, he didn't think that the being can do anything to him. He was already dead. So without wasting any more time, Harry walked towards the being and sat in the chair on the opposite side of the table the person sat by. Still, Harry couldn't help but feel like something was completely wrong.

The figure then pulled down its hood and revealed quite a normal face, if you ignore the whole decaying thing. Then the being smirked in amusement, "Welcome to my humble abode, Harry Potter."

Harry would be a lot more relaxed if the smirk didn't give him chills, still, he channeled his inner Gryffindor and asked, "I might have an idea of who are you, but I will still ask. Who are you and why I am here?"

Its smirked widened even more and Harry was slightly scared as it didn't look too friendly, "Who I am you ask? I brought you here so I might as well introduce myself. I am known by many names. Death, Fate or the maker of the Deathly Hollows. Ring a bell?"

Yeah, now Harry was visibly scared. He preferred Dumbledore than Death.

"Oh? I am hurt Harry," It said in a mock hurt voice, "You really prefer the old goat from me? After all of the manipulations, you would still want to talk with him. Yes, Harry manipulations. You followed him and many others like a sheep through your entire life. Well almost, you got a lot better after the war, but it doesn't change the fact that you let yourself be manipulated through your entire school life."

Harry spluttered and then said in denial, "I might not have been the most intelligent person back then, but I was not a sheep."

Death laughed, hard. Its laugh went through the entire station and Harry was getting quite irritated. Finally, Death stopped and raised an eyebrow at Harry, "Really? You were not a sheep? Okay then let me give you a few examples of it and some of your idiocy early in life. Let us go back to your life with your 'relatives', you somehow managed to teleport yourself on a roof and grow your hair back in one night. Now tell me, Harry Potter, what you do in this situation?"

"Explore my powers?" he said reluctantly.

Death grinned, "Why yes. You should have explored your powers and see what more they can do. Now I can ignore it as you were mentally abused child and anything with a word magic was a taboo in your house. But let us go further, you go into the magical world without any information and you don't even think about acquiring it. Most of the muggle-borns knew more about their new world than you. There were many other things that you could have done better, but they are not important now and you wised up after the war."

Now it was time for Harry to look confused, "So why are you telling me this. I am dead."

Death sighed heavily, "You need to know that as I am immortal being, there is not much I can do. So I like to watch mortals and their life. It gives me entertainment and your life Harry Potter was the best show I watched for a long time. It would be a lot better if you were a bit smarter early on, but I still had so much fun," it said happily at the end, "But now that you died my entertainment has ended. So I decided to give you one more chance."

Hearing this Harry got a little angry, "What do you mean about another chance, I died and I want to meet my family again. I have nothing to go back to so just let me die, " he finished in a pleading voice.

Death again sighed and said in a little softer tone, "Harry, I know that you want to go to your family, but tell me wouldn't you want to go and live a life as you want? You will meet your family sooner or later so why not go and live a life by your rules. No prophecies, no mad Dark Lords, only your choices."

Harry finally calmed himself down, but again got confused at Death's words, "You are talking like I am not going back to my old body."

Death nodded and explained, "Yes, you are not going back to Earth. You had your second chance there and it is time for you to go somewhere else or die. And as I want to have more entertainment I am going to send you to another world!"

He thought about it, he would rather go and meet his family, but it didn't look like Death was giving him a choice plus it might not end up too bad. He released a deep breath and said in resignation, "You won't let me die huh?"

The being smiled, "Good, you understand that whatever you do you are not dying today. But don't worry as I said earlier one day you will be able to meet your family again. Now there are a few things to talk about before I sent you away. You will arrive in a new body as I can only send your soul, I already have something in mind. Next would be your magic. You need to know that some time ago there was magic in this new world but now almost no one can use it. Now don't panic you will still be able to use your magic. Unfortunately, the magic in those land in much wilder than on earth and no normal spell will work, so you will need to find a way to use it without wand and spells like before. I would tell you more, but I think that it will be much funnier to see you discover the world for yourself."

Then Death grinned madly and said with too much happy voice, "So without further ado, I wish you good luck, Harry Potter," and without wasting any more time the being waved its hand and Harry was thrown into a train that was waiting on the station.

Harry didn't have time to react and before he could do anything he blacked out... again.

* * *

**289 AC, Myr**

A white-haired** [1]** boy woke up with a loud gasp. He sat upright in his bed and looked around. He was in a very plain room, with only a wardrobe, mirror and a bed in it. It looked like a room straight from the medieval age.

He then slowly sat on the verge of the bed and murmured quietly, "What have you gotten yourself into again Potter, huh?"

In the moment when he wanted to get up and check where he was, Harry felt the most painful headache coming. He released a silent scream and blacked out from the pain.

* * *

**[1] He looks like Nero when he was younger but with the same haircut from DMC 5, I will make a description of his look in the next chapter.**


	2. Adapting

The moment after Harry blacked out, he felt memories going through his mind. He didn't catch them all, but he managed to see some.

_A four-year-old boy was running through the house. His shining violet eyes watched everything around him. He quickly hid behind his mother's bed and hoped that no one will find him._

_His hopes were for naught as after a minute his mother came through the door and watched him with some amusement. She was beautiful. Her long white hair looked as exotic as ever and she had the same violet eyes as her son. She wore a simple dress that was popular through all of Myr. _

_The woman shook her hand and asked with some tiredness in her voice, "Really Harry, again? I told you multiple times to wait till the food be will be ready."_

_The boy stood up and chirped at his mother, "Sorry mother, I was hungry."_

_His mother giggled at his antics and scooped him up in her arms, "Alright, dear. Let's go It is almost ready. Then we will go for a walk, what do you think?"_

_Harry looked up at his mother with his big shining violet eyes and grinned widely..._

Harry got pulled out from the memory and was a little surprised that the kid was also named Harry. At least it will be easier to adapt if he won't need to use a new name. The wizard then felt another pull and let himself go into another memory.

_This time a six-year-old boy sat with his mother by the table. They both were eating dinner, but the boy looked like he wanted to ask something. _

_The mother saw his hesitation and asked, "Harry. What is troubling you? You know that you can tell your mother everything."_

_Harry looked up from his food but the woman could see that he was still uncertain and maybe even a little bit scared. Finally, after a long pause, he spoke up, "Mom, where is my father? You never told me about him."_

_The woman widened her eyes a little but then she released a deep sigh, "What brought this on? And why now?" she inquired. _

_The boy looked down at his hands and said quietly, "When we were walking through the city I saw a few families together and I couldn't help but think where is my other parent. I never asked anything because I thought that maybe you will tell me, but I would like to know something about him."_

_The mother frowned and walked to her son. She then took his hands in hers and said slowly, "Harry... know that I and your father loved each other very much and he loved you even more. He always tried to help everyone around him, but it finally came back to him and he was killed before you were born. I am sorry that you will never meet him, but remember that he loved you."_

_Harry saw some tear coming from his mother's eyes so he got up, hugged her tightly and murmured, "Thank you, mom..._

The wizard again got pulled out and if he was conscious he would frown. Next life and he again doesn't have one parent. He would continue his thought but another memory came.

_The white-haired boy looked now a bit older when he along with his mother sat on a rock near the port of Myr. The woman always takes her son there so they could watch the ships come and go. _

_Finally, the boy broke the silence, "Mom what do people mean when they say I look like someone of Valyria descent?"_

_His mother looked at him and smiled lightly, "It does mean what it says. We both have ancestors from Valyria. An ancient land that fallen quite some time ago. The Valyrians are known for their great beauty and possessed physical features not seen among other peoples of the world. Typically, they were very fair-skinned, with silver hair and violet or deep blue eyes. That's why we are noticed much easier even though our hair is more of a white color due to mixing our blood with people outside Valyria."_

_Harry looked at his mother with excitement shining through his eyes, "Does it mean that we belong to some noble house?"_

_The white-haired female laughed at her son eagerness, "I don't know about us, but my grandmother belonged to one. She then broke off from it and had a family on her own. From what I know we are the last unofficial members of this house."_

_"What was the house called mom?"_

_The woman shook her head and answered, "This is a story for another day. When you will be a little older I will tell you."_

_The boy frowned but accepted the answer as there is no arguing with his mother... _

Noble houses? It stinks of the same pure-blood bullshit from his last life. Ah well, he will need to see for himself how the things work here. Then he felt the pull again, but this time it was much stronger.

_An eight-year-old boy sat by a bed. On it laid the white-haired woman, but this time her face looked sickly and one could see some sweat on her forehead. The boy had a few tears running down his face all the while he was clutching his mother's hand like it was the most precious thing in the world._

_The woman smiled sadly and said in a hoarse tone, "Harry, look at me... I know that it hurts, but you need to be strong. I don't want to leave you, but the disease won't stop. I am sorry dear, but you need to listen to me, there are a few important things that I need to tell you before I go."_

_Harry released a few sobs, "You can't leave me, mom. I don't want to be alone."_

_She gave his hand a squeeze to get his attention, "I know son and I would love to stay with you but we can't always have what we want... Now listen carefully. When I am gone you will need to be careful. No one can know that you live alone or someone will catch you and brand you as a slave. Remember to always lock the house even when you are inside. Never show your face to anyone, wear cloaks when you go outside. Anyone who remembered you will forget after some time if they won't see you._

_We have got enough money to last you for a few years, but you will still need to be careful while managing it. Next, I wrote a letter for a situation like that it will explain your ancestry and a few other things," she coughed a few times and continued, "Read it and be safe dear. The world is a cruel place and you need to be smart to survive."_

_With that, she closed her eyes and after a moment her breathing stopped. The boy's cries intensified as he wept for his lost mother..._

Of course, it would be too good to have at least one parent alive... and now he got placed into the poor lad's body. Death is really playing with him. Fortunately this time no more memories came and Harry felt himself waking up.

* * *

With a groan, Harry opened his eyes and looked around. He was still in the same plain room so no one is in the house. The headache is still killing him but he will need to deal with it. Sometime soon he will try to use occlumency to sort through all of the memories in his head. Luckily the defensive mind magic is still working properly even if his mind is a mess.

Harry also couldn't help but wonder why Death decided to put him in this kid's body as from what he can see, Harry is still pretty small. In this moment he noticed a small source of light next to him and when it disappeared he saw a small note.

_The kid would be dead in the next month, so I decided that it would be funny to see what you would do in his situation._

_Avid fan of your life, Death._

_PS: I gave you something so you could remember your past life. You will discover it in time. Oh, and expect quite a surprise later in your life, I can't wait for your reaction._

Harry's eyebrow twitched a little at the signature, but he calmed himself down and took a few deep breaths. What's done is done, there is no point in arguing with all-powerful deity. Still from what the memories told him, Harry won't have an easy life in the near future. And it was supposed to be a new chance at life? He can at least pray that magic won't be so hard to use, even if he will need to learn everything from the ground.

Just another completely normal adventure is his life.

He would probably kick and scream about his situation when he was younger but with time Harry realized that nothing is ever normal with him. It is better to go along than fight it, he tried many times and it never worked out. Plus normal is overrated.

He released a deep sigh and stood up from his bed. Time to see how much time passed since the last memory. He slowly walked to the mirror that was hanging on the wall and looked at himself.

He still looked like an eight-year-old. His white hair was cut short and now his eyes were of a very deep violet color. He will miss his old eyes as they always were the only thing that connected him to his mother. Guess he will need to get used to them. His new mother was right when she said that people of Valyria descent are fair-skinned. As he is still young, Harry can not tell how his build will look in the future. For now, he is quite lean, even though he can see that he is a little bit taller than normal kids his age and it probably came from his father.

Harry ran a hand through his now tameable white hair and made his way into the kitchen area where his mother hid the letter. It took him some time to find it as he still didn't have all the knowledge of the previous occupant of this body.

Finally, he found it and after he sat down by the table, he opened it and read. It was written in a different language but somehow Harry could read it without any problems.

_Dear Harry,_

_I wrote this letter with hopes that I will never need to use it, but the illness is getting worst and worst. There is a chance that maybe someone could help me but I am sure that they would take all of our money for it and I can not let it happen._

_You need it more than me and after your father's death, we lived on what I and he gathered before you were born. I know that you are probably angry at me, but son you need to understand that if we lost our wealth then they would take us as slaves and I won't allow my child into such position. Your father would do the same and I will gladly make this sacrifice._

_Now, you deserve that I finally tell you about your father. We meet a few years before you were born in Pentos. My own mother just died and I didn't know what to do. I almost got caught by some slavers when your father rescued me. He kept me company for the next few days and then he helped me travel to Myr. _

_One thing led to another and we both settled here. Your father mostly took a job as a merchant and I sometimes helped him. Then during my pregnancy, he died and I almost lost my will to live. You, my dear, was the only reason why I could keep on living._

_Your father never spoke much about his origin, but I know that he is from Westeros and was a part of a smaller noble house in the North._

_There is also the matter of our ancestry. Like I told you earlier, we are unofficial members of an extinct house. You see my Grandmother was a child of Daemon I Blackfyre. She knew that after the First Blackfyre Rebellion there is no point in staying with her family so she escaped without anyone noticing and created her own family away from people who could harm them._

_She explained a few things about our original family to my father who then passed some of his knowledge onto me. I would do the same, but it will be better if you discover everything on your own. Just remember one thing. Even if the Blackfyre didn't leave a too good impression on the world, they are still our ancestors so the least we can do is honor them._

_There is also one more important thing you need to know of. Sometime after my grandmother settled down with her own family, she got visited by Aegor Rivers, Daemon half-brother. She was scared that maybe he came after her in the name of her late father, but Aegor quickly explained his reasons._

_He decided that if my grandmother is the only one who managed to live a normal life then maybe it should be her who will keep the only thing that represents house Blackfyre. He gave it to her and she never saw him again. _

_His gift is hidden in our basement behind the bookshelf. As long as it is in our family we have the right to Blackfyre name. Of course, you need to keep quiet about your ancestry until you will be able to defend yourself._

_There are more things that I would love to tell you my son, but a letter can only do so much. So I will leave you with my last few words._

_Live your life, be happy, but also careful, the world around us is not a nice place and you will need to always watch your back._

_I love you, Mother._

If Harry wanted to be honest, he doesn't know what to think of this letter. He can respect the sacrifice the mother made, but what eight-year-old would be able to take care of himself when he was sheltered his whole life. From what he saw from the memories, this world is at the stage of medieval age or even worst, so Harry is no longer surprised that the child wouldn't last too long.

Harry then decided that he might as well check what is this gift his new mother wrote about. He quickly made his way to the basement and saw the pretty big bookshelf. Fortunately, there wasn't much on it so after a few minutes of hard work Harry managed to pull the shelf from the wall.

Behind it was a small hole hollowed out in the wall. Harry then put his hand in it and pulled whatever was in there out. It was something pretty long covered in a sheet. The white-haired boy quickly tore the sheet apart and finally saw what was inside.

It was definitely not something that the wizard would expect. Well, he probably should have, but no one can blame him as why someone would leave a sword there. It was hand-and-a-half longsword with a beautiful handle and a ruby at the pommel. The head of a dragon rested on each of the end of the guard. The metal of which the blade was made surprised Harry a bit as he could see a ripple pattern all along the blade. The next surprise came when the boy took the blade in his hands. As an eight-year-old, it should be a lot harder to wield the blade, but Harry could lift it with both hands without bigger problems.

Then he noticed a small note in the sheets. Harry put the sword aways and read it.

_Blackfyre, one of the most famous Valyrian steel swords. Once wielded by Aegon the Conqueror and then it provided a name for House Blackfyre._

Harry then had a few flashes of memories and the knowledge of what Valyrian steel was, came to him. It will be really useful to have a blade that is lighter, sharper and stronger. Especially if combat in this world really is mostly about melee. Harry will need to learn how to wield it, but he has time plus he still needs to see how magic is working.

Finally, the wizard decided to start preparations. His new mother was right about one thing, he is completely alone in a new world so it won't be easy. That's why Harry spent the next few hours gathering all of the money and any valuable things in the basement. He then hid most of it in the hole along with the sword. Harry also checked his mother's bedroom to see if he needed to deal with the body, but thankfully it was gone. He doesn't know how, but it was probably one of the rare moments when Death decided to help him.

Next, Harry ate some food that he found in the house and then he decided to use occlumency to sort through all of the new memories. It will be helpful to know everything about this world that the boy knew.

It took him some time, but before the sun went down he managed to get through every new memory. It is a bit confusing to have two sets of memories, but Harry should adapt after some time.

He discovered that he is in Myr, one of the Free-cities in Essos. There was also some information on other cities and even a few things on Westeros, but it wasn't much. Still, from what he can see this is not a new chance at life, but more like a survival test. This world is more backward than British Wizarding World and that's saying something. Even slavery is a normal thing in Essos. Harry will really need to be careful and let his Slytherin side work. For now, he is defenseless and he doesn't see it changing anytime soon.

He will practice his magic and maybe even see if there is something that can help him learn how to wield a sword, but for now, he is too tired and it is time to go to sleep.

* * *

Harry woke up the next day feeling quite refreshed, he ate some breakfast, changed his clothes and then he realized something very important. There are no showers in this world...

If Hermione heard the string of curses that Harry released after realizing this fact, he would get a nice tongue lashing. He shuddered at the thought.

Harry didn't think about hygiene yesterday as he was still dealing with everything, but now it can be a problem for someone who is used to a lot better technology than here. Fortunately, he found out in his new memories that there are public bathhouses he can use after paying a fee. It should be enough until Harry manages to summon water with magic.

When he finished with everything in the house, he took one of the cloaks with a hood and put it on. It is a good time as any to see the city for himself. He might have the memories, but it is not the same. So without wasting any more time Harry took some money and walked out of the house.

The first thing he noticed was the increased heat coming from the sun. He already noticed it yesterday, but only now he can fell the rays of the sun on him. For a guy who lived his whole life in Britain, climate change was not too nice. Luckily his new body was used to the heat, hopefully, Harry will do the same in time.

Next, Harry locked the doors behind him and went in the direction of the market area. From what he gathered from the memories it is where the public bath is located. Along the way there Harry observed the people around him. The number of slaves left Harry surprised for a moment, but he quickly got over it and continued moving.

He also saw some guards doing patrols and a few people that looked like nobles. He didn't stop to observe them too much as to not attract any attention to himself.

Finally, after a few minutes of walking, he got to the bathhouse and paid for the entrance. It was not too cheap so he will need to limit his trips here. Surprisingly everything in there was of a good quality and Harry quickly realized that no one other than nobles is probably using those places. He will need to think of other ways to keep up with his hygiene.

After he finished bathing, Harry stopped by some stands with food and bought a few things that would last him for some time. Then he went back to his house and decided that it is a good time as any to try and see how magic works in this world.

Every witch a wizard can feel their magic when they use spells, it helps them to learn how to control it. The control then is used with non-verbal casting and sometime when a wizard/witch is powerful, in non-wandless magic. From what Death said, Harry should be able to use wandless magic easier, but control will be harder.

During the war against the blood purists, Harry could use a few spells wandless like Lumos, summoning or banishing. It wasn't much, but they helped when someone managed to disarm him. Now he will try to use the experience and at least summon a small light.

Magic is mostly about intent and will. A wand helps with focus but it is possible to do magic without it if one has enough skill and power. So Harry focused with all his mind on creating a ball of light in his hand and willed it to happen.

The effect was instant but very surprising. Instead of a small ball of light appearing above his hand, the light absorbed his entire hand and the intensity changed every second before the light completely disappeared.

Harry sat there shocked. When Death told him that the magic here is wilder, he didn't expect this. He really will need to work hard on figuring out a way to use this type of magic. He could feel it fighting him when he tried to control it, so maybe going another way around it is a better idea.

Harry sighed and decided to try a few different things. He spends a few next hours on it and after he noticed that it is getting dark he stopped his tests. From what he noticed, the magic is a lot easier to summon without a wand, but it is almost impossible to control in the way that the spells from his old world did. He got a few ideas about what to do from here but for now, he is too tired.

Forgoing even taking off his clothes, Harry laid down on his bed and went to sleep.

The next day Harry again ate breakfast and changed into new clothes. Then he decided that it would be good to gather more information about this new world. The previous occupant of this body didn't care about such things and his mother taught him what he needed. For Harry it won't be enough, he needs to know how this world works. From history, technology to the political side of this land.

The more new knowledge, the easier it will be for him to adapt. If he wants to have a somehow happy life here then education will be the most important... Well maybe apart from learning how to fight.

So with the plan made, Harry searched through the entire house for any books that could be useful. He didn't find much, there were only a few books on Essos. He also found a scroll with the map of the entire continent with Westeros added to it. It looked really interesting and Harry couldn't wait to find out more about those places.

Then he decided to go into the city and find someplace where he could buy some more books or find a library if it exists here. It took him some time to find someone willing to sell books on both Essos and Westeros. He mostly bought books on history as it is the most important subject for him now. Harry wanted to know more about the Blackfyre's so he also searched for a book on Westerosi houses. It all cost him some money buy it will definitely be worth.

He tried to find information about Valyria but was unsuccessful, hopefully, there will be something on it in the books that he already bought.

Finally, he came back home and began reading. It will be better if he starts with books and then moves on onto magic training as it is more tiring. Harry spent the next few hours reading about Essos in general and he got to know a few interesting facts.

The continent is huge and it is not even fully mapped. This intrigued Harry as maybe sometime in the future he will try to discover what lies beyond the known lands.

The Nine Free Cities are former colonies of the Valyrian Freehold before its fall, well except Bravoss as it was formed by refugees fleeing slavery in Valyria. This was one of the few mentions of Valyria he found and it is always something about the fall.

There were also mentions of Dothraki a race of nomadic horse-mounted warriors. Most of the book described them as barbarians, but Harry would like to see them for himself before drawing any conclusions.

Of course, he also found out that in Essos slavery is widespread throughout the continent. It would be easier to list the few places in Essos where slavery is not practiced like Bravos. Harry didn't like it, but there is not much an eight-year-old can do. Maybe in the future but for now, it is not possible.

At the end of the book, he finally found some more information about Valyria, it wasn't much but he discovered that it is said Valyrians could use magic and had their own dragons. Now, this was a surprise as no one in the wizarding world could control a dragon. Subdue them, yes, but control?

Thanks to this bit of knowledge Harry decided he will need to find information that mentions anything about supernatural creatures or magic. It could be useful in his training and it is good to know what to expect in this new world.

When Harry finished reading, he moved onto magic. He will probably keep this routine for the next few weeks until he will be sure that he can defend himself. There is also the matter of sword fighting, but Harry can't think of any idea how to train without a teacher. Guess he will need to be on a lookout for someone who won't try anything against him and will be able to teach him.

Harry then fell into his routine and before he noticed a month passed since he arrived in this world. There were a few notable events that happened during this time. The wizard mostly stayed in his home, only going out when he needed to buy food or take a bath. During one of his walks, he was a witness to the cruelty of this land. He saw a slave master kill his subjects because they were to slow in their task.

Harry really wanted to kill the bastard back then, but he knew that it would be stupid and would cause his own death. There were a few more events like this and Harry finally realized that this world is much different than his previous one. While people in the wizarding world might have been bigots, the didn't kill people outright in the public while others watched. Well, maybe Voldemort and his death eaters would do it, but that's not the point.

The point is that Harry could easily say that the rule of survival of the fittest or the wealthiest applies to this world perfectly. It is cruel, but this is how the world works here and Harry will need to adapt if he wants to survive. Luckily the war against the blood purists changed Harry a bit so it is a bit easier to deal with the change.

Of course, this was not the only thing Harry did during this month. No, he continued his education and slowly knew more and more about these lands and their history. He is still searching for more information about magic and dragons, but he has time.

He also managed to work out a way to use magic. Instead of trying to control it, Harry guides it. It requires a lot more focus and power from the user, but at least now, Harry can use some magic without it blowing upon him. He also found out what Death meant by giving him something to remember his old life. When he uses magic his eyes color changes to his old emerald green.

With this method, Harry will be able to progress further and work his way to more powerful magic. Unfortunately, it is not possible to use any of the spells that need precision and control. They just don't work with the new method that Harry is using. But might be able to recreate them later on.

As of now, Harry is sitting on his bed while absently throwing some kitchen knives at the wall. He began this practice when he was frustrated at not being able to find any way to learn how to wield a sword. His aim might not be the best, but it is a work in progress.

Putting the knife away Harry decided to go on a walk, it was getting quite late so there should be fewer people around who would be able to see him. He quickly put his cloak and went out of the house.

While he was walking near the port, Harry saw a tall man fighting with four other people. When the man turned more in Harry's direction, the boy could see that he was thin and hard as a bone. He had black hair which falls over, black eyes, and had a stubble of a beard.

He was highly skilled with a sword as he almost without any problems defended from his attackers. Harry saw events like this happen a few times already, but now he was interested in the way the man fights. Mostly the people who were attacked were quickly defeated and robbed of everything, but this man has a chance to win.

With a plan formed in his mind, Harry took hold of a few small stones with magic and threw them at the heads of the thugs. The effect was instant as both of them lost their footing and the black-haired male took this occasion and quickly killed the two. Then without any more problems, he dealt with the remaining two.

With that done the man looked around and called out, "Whoever thew the rocks come out!" He was speaking in what Harry recognized as the common tongue. Somehow it sounded like English and the wizard suspected that Death was behind it.

Harry then slowly came out from behind the wall he was hiding at. The man raised an eyebrow and said bluntly, "A kid? Damn me. And I thought that it was some woman who wanted to have me all to herself."

Harry's eye twitched under the hood, but he tried not to show it. The man then gave him a mocking bow and said, "Well thank ya kid. Name's Bronn and I probably could deal with them by myself. Now if you don't mind I will see what they got."

And then the now named Bronn without minding that Harry is watching him went to his fallen foes and searched them for anything valuable. Harry meanwhile had a mental brainstorm. What he will do can either backfire at him completely or help with his problem.

When Bronn finished looting the bodies, he turned back to Harry and said, "That would be it, if you don't mind I will be going, I need to find a place to sleep and maybe someone to warm my bed."

Harry ignored the last comment but decided to use the first one, "Wait, I can help you with finding a place to sleep."

Bronn again looked at Harry curiously, "Yeah? How would you do that? Shouldn't you be with your parents, kid?"

The wizard was getting quite irritated at being called kid, but unfortunately, he is one, so he can't deny it. He then calmed himself and decided to take a leap of faith with this guy. He can always try an blast him with all the magic he got if something goes wrong.

"I live by myself and have a lot of free space. I can see that you are a sellsword and in the exchange of providing you with a place to rest and some money I want something from you," Harry explained.

The man laughed loudly, "And what makes you think that I won't just kill you and take the money for myself?"

"Let's say that I don't have any other option with my current situation and I need help."

Bronn then gained a serious look and inquired, "Alright kid, let's say that I will accept your offer, I am not one to refuse a free warm bed and money, but tell me what do you need from me."

Harry smiled light under the hood and replied, "I want you to teach me how to wield a sword."

The man was a little surprised at the request, but then he smirked, "A free bed and good money for teaching a brat how to fight? Count me in."

The wizard grinned as finally, something was going his way. Now he will need to make sure that Bronn won't kill him in his sleep.


	3. Moving Forward

After Harry managed to make a deal with Bronn, the two slowly walked towards the boy's house. They stayed silent, but Harry was observing everything around him in case of another attack. You never know if someone else won't try their chances thinking that Bronn is tired after the last fight.

Meanwhile, Bronn was thinking hard about the kid. The man never had too good childhood himself, but the experience made him a stronger person. He might not be a good person and everyone can buy him for a good price, but he is not a heartless bastard... well maybe. Still, if the kid will provide him with good money and a place to sleep then he won't harm him. Bronn didn't have anything better to do anyway and some free time in Myr will be nice. From what he heard the whores are not as good as in Lys, but they are still whores.

The black-haired male sighed and followed the boy. It would be nice to at least know his name...

After another few minutes, the duo finally made it to Harry's house and the boy quickly lead his new housemate to the kitchen where a single table stood. Bronn quickly sat in one of the chairs and raised an eyebrow at the boy, "Well, you know my name kid, it would be nice to know yours."

Harry almost facepalmed, of course, he would forget to introduce himself. Coughing awkwardly Harry pulled his hood down and said with as much seriousness as he could, "I am Harry, sorry I completely forgot to introduce myself. It happens when one lives alone for too long."

Bronn widened his eyes a little when he saw the white hair and violet eyes. Like everyone in the world, he knew how people from Valyria looked, but it is rare to met someone who still has so much resemblance to people from old Valyria like Targaryens. Bronn couldn't help but ask, "Only Harry? No house name?"

Harry froze for a second before he narrowed his eyes at the man and said with a bit of danger note in his voice, "Yes, only Harry."

The sellsword hearing the boy's voice put his hands up in surrender and tried to placate the kid, "I was just curious, kid, no need to take this tone with me. Even then I will give you a piece of advice. I already see that you hide your hair under the hood, but you will need to be even more careful. I don't know if you have any connections to Targaryens, but from what I heard, the fat king in Westeros hates anything that is connected to them. I wouldn't be surprised if he out of spite sent someone to kill you. So be careful who you show your face to and shield it better, at least until you can protect yourself."

Harry groaned, of course, someone would hunt him just because he looked similar to other people. And he doesn't even have a clue who the fat king is. At the moment Harry is still going though books about history with older events, so there is no way for him to know who the king is and what happened to Targaryens.

The boy ran a hand through his hair and answered in gratitude, "Thank you, I will try to be more careful when I go out. Even though it is stupid for a king to go after a kid who he doesn't even know about."

Bronn released a loud laugh, "And you would be right, kid. From the stories I heard, the king might have been a good fighter, but no one will tell you that he is a good ruler. Not that I care," he chuckled a few more times and continued. "Now lad, tell me. You want me to teach you how to wield a sword, so I need to know if you ever had any experience with it."

Harry put the information about the king in the back of his mind and thought about how to answer the sellsword. At first, Harry's mind went back to his 2nd year in Hogwarts. It was probably the only moment when he used a sword in a fight, even if it was against a Basilisk. The boy grimaced at the thought and shook his head, "No, not really. I am as green when it comes to sword fighting as you can be."

"Good, it is easier to teach someone from the ground than make him relearn everything. Now it is pretty late, so show me where I will sleep. And don't worry, as long as you pay me, no harm will come to you from me."

Harry nodded but wasn't convinced in the slightest after Bronn's last words. He then told the man to wait for a moment when he went to his mother's room. The wizard quickly went around it and gathered everything that he didn't want the sellsword to see. It wasn't much, but Harry will sleep better with the items secure. It was a bit weird to give someone alien a room that belonged to his new mother, but it is the only way.

The boy then went back to the kitchen and showed the room to Bronn who didn't wait even a moment, closed the door and went to sleep. Harry shrugged at the man's rude behavior and decided to go to sleep himself. But first, he needed to make sure that nothing will kill him during sleep.

He might not be able to create normal wards, but there is a way for him to erect a few weaker ones that should do the job. He quickly found one ruby when he searched through his mother's jewelry and began inscribing it with small runes. The small stone might not be able to hold too much magic but it should be enough.

After Harry finished the runes, he put some magic into the ruby and noticed that it was much harder to transfer any energy to it. Not impossible but harder. He then went back to his room and after he closed the door, Harry placed the stone under it and channeled a bit of magic into one of the runes.

He was pleasantly surprised when a little dome of magic covered the door before disappearing without a sign that it was ever there. Harry wasn't sure if runes would work, but it looks like at least one of the parts of his old magic work. It is a lot harder to put magic into them but maybe with time, it will get easier.

The wizard then changed into his nightclothes and laid down in bed. It is good to know that at least now he will be noticed when someone will try to enter his room. With a sigh, Harry closed his eyes and let the sleep take him.

* * *

**Next day**

When Harry woke up he was glad that he could still feel the magic coming from the ruby. It meant that at least wards stones were working as they should.

The boy quickly changed into new clothes and after he collected the ward stone, he left his room. To his surprise, Bronn was already up eating some food that Harry bought yesterday. Harry was a little irritated as he only made a deal about place to sleep and sword fighting lessons, not food.

Fortunately, Bronn decided to explain himself, "Sorry for food kid, but I didn't want to go outside before you wake up so I helped myself. You can take it from my payment."

Harry could agree with that, "No problem. Now, did you decide when will we start my training?"

Bronn nodded, "Tomorrow. I need to get a few things in the city and then maybe visit a few places," he finished with a smirk.

Harry shook his head in exasperation as he had a good idea which places the sellsword will visit, "Alright, as long as it doesn't cost me, I don't care."

The man smirked even wider and then said a little bit more seriously, "Good for you kid. Now tell me, do you have an idea what kind of sword do you want to wield?"

Harry's mind when to Blackfyre. Fortunately for him, the previous occupant of this body knew what type of sword is it, so he could answer the question, "Hand-and-a-half longsword."

Bronn nodded at his quick answer and Harry was glad that he didn't question why he chose this kind of sword. The wizard then prepared his own meal and as they ate in silence a question came to Harry's mind, "Bronn, why are you in Myr?"

The man in question looked up at the blunt inquiry, and after shrugging he answered, "Greyjoys decided to rebel against the throne in Westeros, so I decided to get as far away as I could. I might be a sellsword, but there was nothing to gain. So I took what I had and sailed to Essos."

Harry could understand his reason, there is no point in fighting some else's war if it is pointless. He also decided to fish more information out of Bronn, as it will be much better to have fresh knowledge about Westeros.

They finished their meals in silence and then Bronn left the house so he could do whatever he needed. Harry decided that it will be a good time to go back to his magic practice. Now he will need to be careful so Bronn won't see him use magic.

From there time again began to pass and before Harry noticed another 2 weeks passed. It was the day Harry remembered that today's was this body's birthday or name day, as it is called here. Of course, no one other than him knew about it.

Then there was the day of Harry's first sword-fighting lesson.

**Flashback**

_After both Harry and Bronn woke up, the older man led the boy towards a spot he found yesterday. It should be good enough to let them practice without anyone noticing._

_Bronn then took out two wooden swords from the bag and gave one to Harry. The wizard could see that it had it looked similar to Blackfyre, so it was probably why Bronn asked him what sword Harry wanted to wield. _

_"Alright, kid, normally I would make you do some exercises first, but I want to see if you can even hold a sword properly. Come on show me what you got," Bronn instructed with a grin on his face._

_Harry nodded and took the wooden sword in both hands. Bronn himself brought his sword before him, but he held it with one hand. Without any idea what to do Harry ran towards his opponent and tried to make a wild swing at the man's left side. _

_Bronn blocked the move without any problems and answered with his own jab. Harry managed to block it thanks to Bronn not using his whole strength. The boy then again threw himself at the older man, his inexperience and lack of skill showing itself in each attack._

_Bronn meanwhile was watching every move Harry made. The boy might be unskilled with the sword, but his movement was very good. It was like he already had some experience in fighting but in some different form. It should make teaching him a lot easier._

_The man finally decided to finish his little test and with a quick move, he disarmed the boy._

_"That's should be enough. From what I see I might even enjoy teaching you," Harry smiled at his teacher's reaction, but it quickly disappeared with his next words, "Now like I said, it is time for some exercises or you won't be able to last five minutes in a fight."_

**Flashback End**

The lessons continued and Harry sometimes cursed his new teacher. Bronn really took the role to himself and was running him through all of the drills that Harry needed to be able to fight.

When it wasn't a physical exercise, it was Bronn who instructed him how to wield the sword. He showed Harry how to properly hold it, defend himself, attack and what to do in different situations. It was going slowly, but even after those two short weeks, the progress was visible.

Now though Harry was in his room while before him laid a simple small stone. Harry was slightly excited as this was one of his favorite branches of magic, so he hoped that it will work.

The wizard focused with all his might and tried to guide the magic to accomplish what should be one of the simplest transfigurations. At first, nothing happened and Harry thought that maybe he will need to try again. But after a moment the stone transformed into a simple block of wood and Harry quickly dropped his hold on magic to shout in joy.

Unfortunately, his excitement quickly faded away when the block transformed back when Harry stopped using magic. He frowned at the result and thought what went wrong.

He did everything as he should have and the transfiguration worked, so why it failed a moment after. He decided to try a few more times, but it always had the same result. He would try conjuring something but at the moment he is still too weak to do such feats of magic.

Even after a few hours, Harry was unsuccessful in even the easiest transfiguration. Irritated he decided to drop the subject and went to sleep, as using so much magic, tired him out.

* * *

**One year later, 290 AC**

One year, that's how much time passed since Harry met Bronn and began his training in sword-fighting. The year was busy and Harry can easily say that he learned more about this new world than the previous occupant of this body learned during his eight years of life.

His lessons with sword progress really good. Thanks to his previous experience in dueling and fighting multiple enemies at once. Harry had a much easier time when he worked on his footing and awareness during battle. While he still needed to learn how to properly wield a sword, he was years ahead of people who would start at the same time as Harry.

The wizard might still be too young to even think of beating Bronn, but in a few years, it shouldn't be impossible. Hard, but no impossible as Bronn is an excellent fighter. He does not fight fair and thanks to it Harry learned a lot of important lessons. With sword-fighting being so different from duels between wizards Harry was surprised how many different tricks one can use during a fight.

Apart from learning how to wield a sword, Bronn proposed for Harry to learn how to use a bow along with knife throwing. At first, the wizard was against it as it would take even more time to train with it. But after giving it some more thought, he decided that maybe it won't be such a bad idea. He won't be able to always use magic for longer distance, so having another weapon to use will be helpful.

Then there was Harry's magic. Here he made a few interesting discoveries.

He finally figured out why transfiguration was not working. It turned out that after Harry stopped guiding the magic during the transfiguration, the wild magic began to run rampant, thus ending the change. The wizard was quite disappointed with the discovery as it meant that now transfiguration is unavailable to him.

Sad, but Harry decided to not dwell on it and try something different. Like elemental magic. There he was really surprised. While he couldn't use water, wind or earth, he could use fire without even focusing on it, plus there was the fact the fire didn't burn him.

No magic came to him as easy as using fire. Of course, it didn't meant that he could create firestorms on a whim. No, the magic was still very draining and only with practice, Harry will be able to use it more and more. The wizard also discovered he could use some ice magic, but it was a lot harder than fire. Nonetheless, he practiced with it as you never know when it will become useful.

Harry also tried to see how charms, hexes, jinxes, and curses worked with the new magic. And unluckily, they mostly didn't. The spells in his old world were all about control, so it was no surprise when Harry couldn't use them with his new method. Fortunately for him, occlumency, runes still worked and he could always recreate his old spells or at least the simpler ones. Harry wisely decided to not try apparition as he can do without splinching himself.

Runes took a lot of Harry's time as he tried to recreate some simpler charms with their use. For now, he managed to make a bottomless and featherweight rune matrixes. They are a lot weaker than the charms used in his old world, but at least now Harry will be able to take more things with him. Maybe in the future, he will recreate something more advanced, but for now, it should be enough.

He also tried to recreate some potions with indigents from this world, but thanks to Snape, Harry never cared too much about the subject. He could brew the most important potions, but he only did it because he needed to. Unfortunately, the wizard only managed to recreate pepper-up potion and even then it was weaker than the old version.

Between his magic and weapon training, Harry kept up with his studies. There was so much to learn about this world and with his constant training, he was hard-pressed to find some time for studying. After he learned everything he needed about Essos he moved onto Westeros. He was a little surprised when he read about the Wall, children of the forest and white walkers. Everything about them screamed magic and Harry would really love to see them for himself. Well, maybe not the White Walkers, but the Wall?

Maybe sometime in the future as for now he already has plans as to where to travel when shit hit the fan in Myr.

Apart from the information on magic, Harry read some history about houses in this land. Not much, as it is not easy to find information about them in Essos, but enough to get the general picture of them. Of course, with it came the knowledge about Targaryens and with them the history of Blackfyres.

It was a surprise that his new house is a branch of House Targaryen. Then there are the numerous rebellions that never seemed to work. Harry didn't really know what to think of it, but as his new mother said, he will honor them. Maybe someday, he will take the name Blackfyre and try to give it a better opinion. At least now he would be able to work for the respect himself and not like when he was the-boy-who-lived.

Harry also tried to learn more about Valyria and the lands in the east of Quarth. Especially Asshai and Shadow Lands. Those were the places where, from the rumors he heard, magic is still alive. Unfortunately, he didn't find much and when he asked Bronn, the man also knew nothing. The same can be said about Valyria as there is not much about them, than that they could control dragons and wield magic.

Harry was irritated at the lack of information but decided that maybe he will go there one day and see the land for himself.

And that's how the year went, with Bronn living with him, Harry didn't need to worry about people trying to break into his house. It was a welcome change and the wizard was grateful for it.

Unfortunately or fortunately for Harry's money, Bronn decided that he spent enough time in Myr and it is time to move.

Harry decided to walk Bronn to the port where a ship was waiting for the sellsword.

"So you decided to go back to Westeros?" Harry inquired as they neared the port.

Bronn nodded and answered lazily, "Yeah, the rebellion finished and Westeros is again a bit calmer. It is a good time to head there and see if I can find some good work. Nothing against you kid as it was nice knowing you, but I think that Essos is just too hot for me."

Harry shook his head at the last statement, but then he smiled, "And it was good knowing you too, even if you took most of my money." Not entirely true as Harry decided to steal some money from the slavers with his magic, so he still got enough to get by.

Finally, they stopped by one of the ships and exchanged a handshake, "Alright kid, this is my ship. Try not to die and if you will be in Westeros. Remember that I will always help you if you pay me enough."

Harry laughed lightly and then waved him off, "Yea, yea. Go on, old man."

Bronn flipped him a bird and walked onto the ship. Harry stood there for a few minutes and watched the ship sail away before he decided that it is time to go back. With Bronn out of the way, people might try to break into his house or attack him. So he will probably stay in his house and only go out for food and a bath.

That's what Harry did for the next month, he mostly stayed in the house and practiced magic as there wasn't much space to use a sword or bow. He began to focus more time on occlumency as it will be needed for something that should help him in the future.

Unfortunately, during the time when Harry was out of the house, he noticed that some people began to take more interest in him and he even was followed back to his house a few times. So the wizard decided to take a few precautions and prepare for the day when he will need to escape.

He bought a few leather pouches along with a bag. With the use of runes, Harry made the pouches bottomless. Even if the enchantment was not as strong as it should be, it still carried a lot more things that a normal pouch could.

In those pouches, Harry put all of the essentials like money, clothes or some more important books. Then he put them in the bag which would carry anything else Harry would forget.

And it was good that he decided for those preparations as one night when Harry was still up, he heard someone outside. The wizard quickly looked through a crack in his front doors to see if they will cause problems.

To Harry's surprise, he saw two soldiers who carried the banner of one of the slave masters. The wizard didn't need to think long why they were here, so he quickly gathered a few scrolls that had his notes and rushed down into the basement. He tied Blackfyre's scabbard on his back and then put the weapon in it. Then he collected his previously prepared bag and put the scrolls in it.

That's when he heard the sound of his door opening. Harry cursed under his nose and grabbed a bow with a few arrows. It might be useful during the next few minutes.

With everything gathered, Harry rushed up the stairs and saw the two soldiers standing before his front door. Without wasting any time, Harry focused a lot of his magic and pushed his enemies back with pure energy.

They flew out of the door and fell down on the ground. Harry used this moment and ran through the door in hopes that the soldiers got knocked out. Unluckily it was not to be and after Harry got out of the house, the two guards got up and ran towards him.

Harry knew that he couldn't outrun them, so with a heavy sigh, he took out his bow and notched an arrow. He then lit it aflame with his magic and released the arrow toward the first soldier.

The man got hit straight in the heart without any way to survive. The second soldier saw Harry somehow lit the arrow aflame and got distracted. His distraction was long enough for the wizard to use his magic again and banish the man at a wall next to him.

This time he got knocked out and Harry sighed in relief. He might not be happy about killing, but it was him or them.

The wizard then threw a small fireball into his house, so no one would be able to find anything in there. It would be very bad if they found something that connected him to Blackyre house. It was better to burn the house and leave nothing behind.

Unfortunately, now Harry will need to find a place to sleep until the day. Then he will find a ship and get out of Myr. It didn't take him much time to find an empty alley to sleep in. It might not be the best, but it should be enough for one night.

The wizard made himself as comfortable as he could and let the sleep take him.

**Dream**

_When Harry opened his eyes again, he wasn't in the alley where he went to sleep. No, from what he could see, he was floating above some Valley. The valley was a narrow cleft in the mountains through which a river that glimmers with a pale green phosphorescence ran. The mountain cliffs were so high and steep that no light went into the Valley. It was both a beautiful and scary sight. _

_When Harry looked a bit further he saw ruins of the darkest city he had ever seen. It had two levels. In the lower one, Harry could see destroyed houses where people probably lived in the past. From there a single path went up into the mountains until it came to the entrance of a castle. It was magnificent, but unlike the rest of the city, it was mostly undamaged. Harry wondered for a moment why he was even seeing it, but a loud roar gathered his attention._

_Harry turned towards the sound and saw a huge white dragon flying right at him. The wizard wanted to dodge but could do nothing as the beast opened its maw and released a stream of fire towards him..._

**Dream End**

Harry awoke with a gasp and quickly looked around in fright. He calmed down when he saw that he was again in the alley and the sun was out.

The wizard didn't know what to think about his dream, but he hoped that it was only a dream, nothing more. It was probably wishful thinking, but for now, Harry doesn't need to deal with creepy cities and dragons.

After the boy gathered everything, he covered his head with a cloth leaving only his eyes for the world to see. He then made his way to the port and after a quick search, he found a ship that will take him to Qarth. It is a long way from Myr, so no one will look there for him.

Harry then paid the owner of the ship and made his way to a cabin inside so he could get some proper rest.

* * *

**2 weeks later, King's Landing**

It was a quiet day when a plump and bald man sat by his desk reading through some new letters he got from his contacts. His name was Varys, the Master of Whispers, so it was expected of him to know of everything important that happened around the world.

As of now, he was reading through a letter that came from his oldest business partners. And what an interesting letter it was.

Illyrio Mopatis, as it was the name of his partner, wanted to inform him of a very intriguing event that happened in Myr. Normally Varys wouldn't care about such things, but what made his interest spike, was the person involved in the event.

A boy who looked like Targaryens was almost caught in Myr when two soldiers went to his house. From what Illyrio gathered, the boy killed one of the soldiers and knocked out the other with magic. At last, that was what the remaining guard said. Varys didn't want to belive in anyone using magic, due to his past, but it would be stupid to dismiss the fact.

Not much is know about him as he was rarely seen outside of his house and for the last year, the boy lived with a sellsword, so people left him alone. Fortunately, they managed to get his name, Harry. It was a weird name for someone of Valyria descent and Varys was almost sure that it was fake.

Now Varys didn't know what to do with this piece of information. The child might be some Targaryen bastard whose mother escaped to Essos, but even then he could be useful for his and Illyrio's plans for the two remaining Targaryens.

He will probably send his spies to find the boy and learn more about him. For now, the boy is a big unknown, which can either help their plans or harm them.

* * *

**At the same time, near Qarth**

Meanwhile, Harry was unaware of Varys' plans for him as he waited for the ship to get to their destination.

The wizard spent on the ship two weeks and he can easily say that boat travel is almost as bad as every magical way of traveling. The only plus was the meeting of some sellsword who helped him train. It was an older man and Harry didn't even need to pay him for the help.

Now though he is glad to see Qarth on the horizon. The boy will need to be careful from now on and never show his face to anyone. It is a bit irritating that his looks gather so much attention, but what he can do?

Harry smiled lightly when the ship finally docked into the port. His new life might not be easy, but at least it is not boring.


	4. Qarth

When Harry finally stepped on the land, he took a moment to look around and observe the surroundings with his own eyes.

He could see a vast port, from what he read, it was one of the greatest in the known world. The number of ships slightly surprised the wizard as he never was a person who liked to spend time on a boat. If he needed to travel in his old world by the Muggle means, he used planes. Much better and faster in his opinion, but even then it was rare as he preferred magical methods of transportation.

Far away from him, Harry could see the famous three thick walls of thirty, forty, and fifty feet in height, respectively engraved with portraits of animals, war, and lovemaking. He didn't really know what to think of them, but one thing was for sure, no one is capturing Qarth without at least some problems.

Harry read a lot about the city and there were a few reasons why he had chosen Qarth as his destination. He wanted to see the place, which a lot of people speak as a Queen of Cities.

A very interesting title and Harry couldn't help but come here and check it out. It is also a gateway between the lands of Westeros, Slaver's Bay, Free Cities and of course the lands to the far east like Yi Ti or Shadow Lands. From there Harry could go anywhere, so if he would need to escape again, he had a lot of choices.

Even though those reasons were important, Harry came here for something much more intriguing.

House of the Undying.

When Harry heard about it, he knew he needed to come here. This was one of the nearest places where magic was still supposedly alive apart from Valyria. Unfortunately, he didn't manage to gather a lot on those warlocks. He would need to speak with people in Qarth and see the place for himself, before going in or trying to contact those people.

For now, it was time to go into the city, buy some food and then find a place to sleep in.

Harry tightened the cloth around his head and slowly made his way into the city. There wasn't any reason to hurry and he wanted to enjoy the view. Who knows how long he would be able to stay here. This time, Bronn wasn't with him so people might take more notice to Harry. So, for now, he will enjoy the sights.

It took him some time, but after almost an hour of wandering, Harry managed to find bazaar. On the way there Harry observed people walking around and he was quite surprised.

Most people in Qarth were tall and pale, but from time to time Harry could spot some different looking men. Most likely foreigners who came to the city to trade or were on their way to another one.

The next surprise came from their clothing or lack of it when it came to children. Kids of varying ages were running around stark naked with only wearing golden sandals and body paint. It was a bit weird for Harry to see such an occurrence, but he tried to just ignore it and move on.

That's what he did, so Harry moved onto adults. There he saw that males mostly dressed normally... well as normally as one can look in linen, samite, and tiger fur. Harry wisely decided to not question their choices in clothing as he spent almost 20 years wearing robes in the wizarding world.

Then Harry decided to see how females dressed and there he saw something that made his adult mind relax after his previous observations. Women in Qarth wore Qartheen gowns, which leave one breast exposed.

Now Harry's body might be young and he didn't even hit puberty yet, but his older mind can appreciate how the fairer sex looks here. He wouldn't call himself a pervert as what healthy male wouldn't at least take a look.

Harry shook his head to clear his mind of those thoughts, he could observe later, for now, he needed to find some fresh food and then maybe an inn to stay in.

It didn't take him long and after a few minutes, Harry with a bag full of fruits and some longer-lasting food was again walking around the city in search of an inn that wasn't too populated. He couldn't stay in a populated area as it would raise too many questions due to his age and Harry wanted to stay in Qarth for at least a few weeks.

Harry's mind went back to the moment when he was buying the food. He, for the first time since he came to this world, tried to use legilimency on someone. The wizard wanted to make sure he won't be scammed, plus he was new in the city so it gave him a perfect chance to finally try this branch of mind magic.

At first, Harry thought that legilimency either wouldn't work or without a wand, it would be almost useless. He was half-right. It did work, but when he got to the shopper's mind, Harry couldn't get more than the most basic feelings. Harry blamed it at the new magic, but then he decided to do more experiments later. Legilimency could save his life one day, so ignoring it would be stupid.

Figuring out the new magic sometimes irritated Harry, but there was nothing he could do about it.

Sighing, Harry walked into an inn which he managed to find after coming to the edge of Qarth. It was quite a simple building and Harry hadn't seen anyone going in for about 30 minutes. With the hope that there weren't many people inside, Harry walked inside and saw a half-asleep man sitting by the counter.

Said man took notice of Harry and regained his full awareness after a moment. "What do you want kid, don't you see I am busy?" the man said lazily.

Harry held the snort coming from his mouth as it wouldn't be helpful to be rude towards the man. "I want to rent a room," Harry answered calmly.

The man looked at Harry for a few seconds before he exploded in laughter. This time Harry's eyebrow twitched in irritation. Finally, the wizard sighed and decided to take the easy way out. He reached into his gold pouch and took out a few coins. Then Harry put them on the counter and asked with annoyance seeping into his tone, "Can I get a room or do I need to go elsewhere?"

The owner raised his eyebrows at the money before he grinned and took a key from under the counter. He then put the key down and took the money, "Room 7 on the second floor."

Harry didn't even get a chance to ask how to get to the room as the man sat down in his chair with eyes closed.

Sighing in frustration, Harry went in the search of stairs. Fortunately, it was quite simple to find them and in a minute Harry found his room. It was very plain with a small bed and table inside. There wasn't even a window, but Harry didn't have anything against it, he lived in worse places. Even then Harry planned to find a different location to rest later.

The wizard lit the candle that was located on the table with a wave of his hand and then slowly unpacked. With the task finished Harry placed the ward stone under his door and laid down in bed. It wasn't too comfortable, but it was better than his resting place on the ship.

The boy let his body relax and slowly fell asleep.

* * *

A few days passed since Harry arrived in Qarth. During this time he managed to become familiar with the layout of the city and now he would be able to escape without getting lost if the need came.

The wizard only spent two days in the inn before he managed to find an abandoned building near the port. It wasn't much, but at least now no one knew where he lived. It was also a good place where Harry could train his magic and swordsmanship. He hadn't trained too much since he came to Qarth, but it would be useful later.

During his exploration of the city, Harry came upon the House of the Undying. The House was a grey and ancient ruin. It was long and low, without towers or windows. Around it, no building stood apart from the black-barked trees with inky blue leaves. Black tiles covered the palace roof, many of them fallen or broken.

Harry didn't know what to think about it, but he at least understood why the place was also called the Palace of Dust. During his old life, the wizard saw a lot of weird things, so the House didn't scare him. Even then he couldn't stop the slight shiver that ran through his spin when he tried to feel the magic around the Palace.

He could feel the darkness curling around it like a blanket, but he also knew that the magic was weak. Still, Harry was happy to find a place of magic even if it was dark and weak.

He wanted to get closer and sense the magic better, but he knew he should be careful. He did not know enough about the place to just go there without a care like in his old life when he was younger. The wizard will prepare and gather information before going into the unknown.

That's what Harry did for the next two weeks. He talked with people about the warlocks who lived in the Palace and tried to find books on them. He was somehow successful in his endeavors.

He managed to find more about the warlocks inside the House. Well... at least how they look.

From the rumors, they are paler than even people in Qarth and their most recognizable trait was the blue color of their lips. They got it from drinking the shade of the evening. Harry didn't understand why anyone would drink something that messes with their mind, but it is not his place to ask.

He also tried to get a better read on the Palace, but he couldn't feel anything inside it. It unnerved him slightly as why would the place release so much darkness if it was empty. Nothing really added up.

Apart from information gathering, Harry continued his training. Both in magic and sword. The wizard continued his research on legilimency and he finally managed to find out what is wrong besides the wilder magic in this world.

Harry tested it with many different people and he found out something very interesting.

Somehow all the people he met so far, had natural mental barriers. They varied in strength and when Harry dived deeper to find out how the barries came to be, he found magic in those people. It was there, passively going through their bodies, never showing itself.

Harry didn't know if they could use it, but he highly doubted that. Even though the magic was inside them, there wasn't much of it. It is highly possible that a long time ago magic was used by everyone, but after centuries or even millennia, people forgot about it. And now the magic can only create weak mental barriers.

Of course, it was only a theory that Harry created and it could be entirely wrong as there still are magic users in this world. Harry hoped that a meeting with the warlocks from the House of the Undying would help him with his theory.

With those barriers, Harry could only feel basics emotions with legilimency. Sometimes he found people who had weaker defenses and he could read their surface thoughts. That gave Harry hope that maybe someday he would be able to use legilimency with greater results. Of course, he wouldn't dare to look through memories of every human he met, but the ability could be useful if a situation was dire.

And that's how Harry's time went. It would be perfect if it wasn't for the feeling that he was watched and it definitely wasn't the weird raven Harry began to see from time to time when he was training. This feeling caused the wizard to create more ward stones and place them around the abandoned building. Moody would be proud.

And Harry was glad for his foresight as two days later the wards were tripped during a night.

When Harry opened his eyes, he quickly tried to feel the magic around him. It was thanks to this action that Harry managed to roll out of his makeshift bed in time.

Whoever the attacker was, he or she didn't expect Harry to dodge so the wizard used the surprise and used ice magic to throw a few small ice spikes at his attacker. In return, Harry got a shout of pain. Smiling the wizard summoned a ball of fire in one hand and finally saw his enemy.

It was a very pale man, dressed in clothes Harry once had seen on the richest of merchants. He had a longer than normal neck and was completely bald, but the most important feature was his lips. They were blue and Harry realized at this moment that a warlock from the House of the Undying is kneeling from pain before him.

It was definitely not how Harry imagined his first meeting with another magic-user in this world, but it could work in his favor.

Without wasting any time Harry ran towards the downed warlock and knocked him out. He then found a chair and placed the man on it. With another use of ice magic, the warlock was bound to the piece of furniture and his bleeding was stopped.

With everything prepared Harry again covered his whole head in cloth and summoned a bit of water, it is the only thing Harry can do with the element, to wake the warlock up.

The man woke up and began to breathe quickly. Then he looked around and noticed the ice around his stomach. He didn't show any fear, but when Harry let his presence be known, the warlock gave him a hard glare.

"So we finally meet warlock," Harry really hated his young age as his tone wasn't even as half threatening as he wanted.

"Release me or you will know the wrath of the Undying," the man was clearly not scared of a ten-year-old and Harry already knew this wouldn't be easy.

The boy shook his head, "You are in no place to make demands. Now tell me who are you."

Surprisingly the warlock answered, "Pyat Pree is my name, and I am the executor of the Undying Ones' will."

_"Undying ones? What's that supposed to mean," _Harry thought with a frown. The place might be called the House of the Undying, but he never came upon a mention of Undying ones. Shrugging Harry decided to use legilimency and see how he matched again another 'magic-user'.

The wizard focused on the strongest legilimency probe he created since he came here and looked Pyat straight into the eyes. The result was quite surprising as Harry couldn't even feel emotions coming from the man. The barrier was there and the wizard couldn't even scratch it.

Still, the wince from the warlock brought a smirk to Harry's face as at least the man felt his probe. Just when Harry wanted to ask another question, the man spoke, "The Undying ones were right, you really possess magic like no other. With you, our House will again become powerful."

Harry narrowed his eyes at the last admission. It sounds like someone wanted to control him again. The wizard had enough of having his life being controlled when he was in Hogwarts, so there is no way that some blue-lipped bastards will get him.

Trying to not show any outward reaction at the warlock's words, Harry spoke, "And tell me why would I ever work with you? I can just escape."

Pyat smiled evilly at Harry, "The Undying ones will get what they want, no matter where you are."

Harry wanted to retort, but a deep mist appeared inside the building. The wizard couldn't see anything, so he used some pure magic to push the mist away. It took him a few minutes but when the mist cleared, Pyat Pree was nowhere to be seen.

"Shit," the boy cursed loudly, it looks like he won't be relaxing any time soon.

* * *

Tow days, that's how long Harry prepared for his next action. He thought long about what to do next, but in the end, Harry only saw one option.

He needed to go to the House of the Undying and confront whoever the 'Undying ones' were. He couldn't run away, only to live in uncertainty if the warlocks would come for him. No, Harry will face them, and from there he would decide if they were a threat to him and this world.

Tonight Harry would face and kill them all if needed.

He prepared during those two days, it might not be too much time, but he couldn't wait any longer. Who knew, if the warlock wouldn't come back with more people. Harry wanted to meet his enemies on his own accords and that's what he will get.

With Blackfyre on his back and a dagger he bought tied to his waist, Harry was ready to go. Thanks to rumors Harry knew what he needed to do to get into the Palace, so with as much confidence as he could muster, the wizard walked through the path under the black trees. Finally, he came upon a door and next to it he saw a single goblet with the shade of the evening.

Taking a deep breath, Harry took the goblet and gulped the drink in one go. Hopefully, his occlumency would shield him from the effect of the drug.

The wizard took Blackfyre off his back and walked through the door.

Inside, he came into a plain room. Truthfully Harry expected something more... rich. The only unnatural things about the room were the four doors on one wall. Harry inspected each of them closely, but he couldn't see anything special. After ten minutes the wizard got quite irritated and decided to feel the room with magic.

Like before Harry could feel the darkness, but he also saw a path of magic going through the doors on the right. Shrugging he opened them and stepped through.

_He instantly regretted his decision as instead of coming into another room, he appeared in a familiar kitchen he hoped to never see again._

_4 Privet Drive._

_The most anty-magic house in the existence, the place where Harry lived through ten years of mental abuse and negligence, a place he vowed to put deep into his mind and forget about it._

_Unfortunately, it looked like Harry won't be free of it anytime soon._

_To make it worse a man who resembled a walrus, soon walked into the room with the black-haired child in tow. Harry widened his eyes a little when he saw his younger self. He already forgot how weak he looked back then._

_From there Harry watched as the child was forced to make breakfast for the family of three, while the black-haired kid didn't even get a piece of the food. Then he saw his younger self being pushed into the cupboard under the stairs. _

_Before the vision ended Harry could hear a chid's cry..._

Harry regained his vision and looked around. He was again in the same room as before. Four doors were waiting for him and Harry was slightly unnerved.

It wasn't like he fared seeing his younger self again. No, what made him angry and frustrated was the sight of him being weak. After the war against Voldemort, Harry vowed to himself to never be weak again, to take control of his life. This vision was like a stab in the heart like someone was laughing at his vows.

Harry gave himself a moment to calm down so he could continue with full strength. It took him a bit to repress the memory in the back of his mind, but when he did it, the wizard smiled grimly and again tried to feel the magic around the room.

Like before it led him to the door on the right, so with a deep breath Harry opened the door and stepped through.

_This time he appeared on a battlefield. Spells were flying left and right and Harry quickly took a notice of the two sides that were fighting. _

_The first group was composed of his old friends, he could see Hermione, Ron, Neville, Luna, and a few others. The second side of the fight couldn't be called a group as it was only a single person fighting. _

_Harry was then forced to watch as his friends one by one fell to the enemy. Harry knew it was only an illusion, but even then it slightly hurt to watch._

_Finally, the battle ended with the unknown person winning. Harry hoped that now the vision will end and he will be able to move on. Unfortunately, it was not to be as the person turned to Harry and began to laugh maniacally._

_Here the wizard lived through a shock as the unknown person looked like his past self, but with Voldemort's eyes._

Again Harry was back in the same room, but this time he didn't care. The previous vision was still going through his mind.

He knew, of course, he knew that it was only an illusion, but it showed him something he feared. Turning into a monster he fought years to defeat.

The fear was not something he possessed after the war with Voldemort. No, it came during the war with blood purists. He already became much more ruthless with it and he was no stranger to killing, but he always wondered. When will he cross the line?

Harry talked about it with Hermione during the war. She always told him that he was doing it for the betterment of the magical community and she would support him even if she didn't agree with all his actions.

Harry snorted at the thought. It came a bit too close to Dumbledore's 'Greater Good' for his liking. The wizard then got up from his sitting position he assumed after he got out from the vision, and calmed his mind.

He will carry on with what he was doing. For now, he would rather forget about this vision. It would be much better on his psyche.

Like previously Harry checked the room with his magic and walked through the same door.

_This time he appeared above a huge city. It was roughly square-shaped, sprawling across several miles and defended by tall walls. Harry couldn't see the finer details from the distance but one thing was for sure, it was nowhere near Qarth. There were just too much of plants and trees around._

_Harry wondered what this vision would show him, but then he saw the fire. It slowly spread through the city and soon it was covered completely in flames. The wizard didn't get any time to think about it as the next moment snow began to fall._

_Quicker than possible, the city was completely frozen and destroyed._

One more time Harry appeared in the same room. He didn't know what to think about the vision. It would be much easier if he did know what city he just saw. So with a shrug, Harry decided to go through this memory at a later date. Now it was time to go through the door for the fourth time.

_Surprisingly in this vision, he saw vast forest clearing. It would be a beautiful sight if it wasn't for the three animals fighting in the center of it. _

_The first animal was a golden lion, the second was a large wolf that Harry recognized as a dire wolf and the last animal was a stag, similar to Harry's father's animagus form._

_The fight between the animals was interrupted by a loud roar. Harry looked up in the sky and saw three 4-limbed, large dragons. Even though Harry could hear the roar, the three animals on the ground didn't care as the continued fighting._

When Harry came out of his vision he was intrigued. A vision of four creatures that were a sigil of four houses in Westeros. It was definitely not a coincidence, but could Harry really believe in something caused by dark magic in the building and a drug?

The wizard didn't want to think of it now, so he decided to do the same as he did with the previous one.

With a sigh, Harry stepped through his fifth door.

_This time he appeared in vast darkness, there was nothing around him at least till he heard a soft murmur._

_"I am sorry, Harry. I hope that one day you will be happy and who knows we might even meet in the future," somewhat familiar voice finished with a hollow chuckle._

After Harry came out from the most confusing vision in his life, he decided to continue.

_Again Harry appeared in the sky above a somewhat familiar city. It took him a moment to recognize it, but then he knew that it was the same place he saw in his dream. Although this time the city was beautiful and Harry could see the inhabitants of various races walking through the streets. It was surprising to see races other than humans together in one city, but Harry enjoyed the view._

_Unfortunately like with the other vision of a city, it began to change. First, he noticed a single man walking on the path that led to the castle in the mountains. As the man walked higher and higher, the city began to degrade. When the man went into the castle, the city looked like the one from his dream, ruined and uninhabited._

Harry was sure of one thing when he came out from his vision. He needed to find the city and go there. It wouldn't appear twice before him if it didn't mean anything.

With hopes to finish his task, Harry opened the door again and stepped through.

Surprisingly Harry came into a square room. He stood in the center of it and before him he saw chairs and tables placed in U-formation. In those chairs, Harry saw beautiful males and females. The wizard could hear whispers around him, but he couldn't make out a thing they said.

Finally, a voice that carried throughout the room spoke, _"We waited a long time for you Harry Potter, son of Lily and James Potter in his last life and now Harry Blackfyre, the last of your House. We are glad that you decided to join us, now relax and let us take care of you."_

That was when Harry's vision changed and he saw that he was no longer in the chamber.

_Harry again appeared a little bit in the air, but this time he was in a land covered by snow. Looking down he saw a man clothed in light leather armor that shouldn't give him enough heat for such cold weather. The man had a hood on his face, but one thing Harry recognized._

_Blackfyre._

_The sword held in the had of the adult surprised Harry, but he quickly deduced that it was either him or he was in the past. The man wielded the blade skillfully, much better than Harry could. From what the wizard could see, the man was fighting something that resembled inferi. _

_Harry watched as the adult finished his last enemy before rising his eyes to the north of him. Harry followed his actions and saw a human-looking creature. It was tall and gaunt, with flesh pale as milk. It had cold blue eyes that unnerved Harry greatly. _

_The wizard would observe longer, but his vision was destroyed when he heard a loud roar inside it._

When Harry opened his eyes, he no longer saw those beautiful humans that sat in their chairs. No, now he saw humans who looked like demons. They looked ancient and withered, their flesh was violet-blue and even their nails and eyes turned blue.

Normally people would be scared when creatures like this were clawing at you, but Harry was used to shit like this happening. With all the focus he could muster Harry gathered a big amount of magic and created a shockwave of pure magic. The attack threw away all of the Undying Ones from him, but they already managed to claw him a few times, leaving him with a few blood trails.

When Harry saw that his attack worked, he held Blackyre with both hands and channeled magic through it. Slowly fire ignited along the blade. Harry worked tirelessly to create this attack those past few days, and now he was glad that he did.

The Undying ones advanced on him, but it was clear enough that they never had any experience in a fight and Harry batted them off without bigger problems. He was surprised they never used any magic, but he wasn't complaining as he wouldn't survive otherwise.

Finally, the fight came to end and a very tired Harry walked through the hallways of the House of the Undying in the search of an exit. From time to time he released some fire around him as he wanted to burn this place down.

Fortunately, he managed to get out on the other side of the building and then he again threw some fire at the exit. He was magically exhausted from the fight and the constant use of fire, but he will be damned if he would leave the Palace undamaged. Now it would have another reason to be called the Palace of Dust.

Because of his exhaustion couldn't dodge Pyat Pree who rushed him the moment he came out. Both fighters fell down to the ground and began to fight. It was visible Pyat was winning and it was only thanks to the pure determination that Harry managed to reach for the dagger at his waist and plunge it in the warlock's heart.

Harry, bruised and bloodied, slowly got up and gathered his sword and dagger. Then with a limp in his step he walked back to the abandoned house where he promptly blacked out.

* * *

When Harry woke up, he was sore, hungry and exhausted. The wizard didn't know how long he was asleep, but he didn't care.

With a groan, the white-haired boy got up and found some food. After Harry ate every single food he had, he decided to go an take a bath in the sea. It took him some time to get there, but when he got in the water, Harry never felt better.

He washed the blood and dirt off and then let his thoughts wander.

It was stupid of him to go to the House of the Undying with so pitful preparations. If the Undying Ones could use magic, he would be dead now. At least he discovered his own limit with magic. For a ten-year-old, it was pretty good and he would only get better with time.

Finally, Harry decided to finish his train of thought and go to the bazaar. He needed more clothes and food.

Time again began to pass and before Harry noticed a whole month passed since his trip to the House of the Undying. He mostly spend this time on magic as his body was still sore and weak. He worked with runes to recreate some other charms, soon he should have more ready.

Apart from his work with magic, Harry tried to gather information on public opinion about him burning the Palace of Dust. Some didn't care and others were scared for their lives.

It amused Harry a bit, as he won't go after anyone without a reason. Those Undying ones deserved it and the warlock tried to kill him. They were a lost cause.

Unfortunately due to public opinion, Harry decided to leave Qarth. It was better to disappear before people began to ask questions.

That's why Harry was now standing in the port. He just paid a Capitan to take him on the ship and soon they depart.

His next destination, Asshai.


	5. By The Shadow

Surprisingly the time to get from Qarth to Asshai was longer than Hary expected. His previous voyage from Myr took 2 weeks so the wizard though that with the lesser distance it would take no more than a week.

He was wrong. Very wrong.

For the first two days, the trip was going without any problems. Unfortunately, it was just like Harry's luck to encounter some pirates. Truthfully it was his first true fight if one didn't count the Undying Ones, but he used magic with them.

Now Harry knew that in Asshai magic was quite popular and no one looked at you if you used it. But he still needed to get there and who knew how the crew would react to his powers. So Harry only used magic when he was sure no one would notice. Small things like pushing someone with magic or getting their clothes aflame.

Luckily for Harry and the ship crew, the pirates weren't too strong and they got defeated with only a few casualties on Harry's side. Thankfully not many noticed Harry fighting during the chaos, so he didn't need to explain where he learned how to fight or how he got a Valyrian steel sword.

The wizard was glad for those small victories because if someone noticed, his life on the boat would get a lot harder.

Unfortunately, because of the pirate attack, their ship was damaged so the Capitan needed to get to the nearest port where they spent one week. Harry didn't mind as one week wouldn't do anything to his plans.

And so when they departed again, Harry was informed that it shouldn't take them more than a week to get to Asshai.

Again they were wrong.

When the storm hit them, Harry was beginning to think Death was just making fun of him. Fortunately for the crew, they were close to Marahai Island so the Capitan ordered to stop the ship there.

The storm raged for almost a week before it finally calmed down and they could resume their trip. Now Harry was quite irritated. When the Capitan came to him to tell him how long it would take to get to Asshai, Harry stopped him with a glare and told him to not jinx it.

The obviously confused Capitan left Harry to brood as he feared the kid would do something stupid.

Luckily after another week, Harry could see Asshai on the horizon.

Asshai sprawled for leagues across both sides of the river that looked similar to the one from Harry's dreams. It was bigger than Qarth and Harry was curious if the amount of population is adequate to the size of the city.

The wizard had mixed feeling about this place. On the one hand, it was one of the only places where people were still supposed to use magic. Harry couldn't waste the opportunity to see it and that's one of the most important reasons why he is here. But on the other hand, the wizard couldn't help but think that he just got out of the frying pan, into the fire.

There were just so many things that could go wrong during his visit to Asshai that Harry reflected a few times if it wouldn't be better to go back to Qarth and maybe travel to Bravos. Maybe it would be, but his gut told Harry he needed to go there.

Most of the times his gut was right... well if one wouldn't count Quirell, Basilisk, DOM and Harry's sacrifice in the final battle against Voldemort. Alright, maybe his gut was not something to follow, but Harry still felt that something was waiting for him in this dark city.

Hopefully, it wouldn't be so bad.

* * *

When the ship finally stopped in the port, Harry decided to change his clothing into something that would help him blend in. He already bought some darker clothes in Qarth and now he could finally use them.

So it was Harry dressed in simple black clothing with gray cloth around his head who stepped onto the dry land first. Just when he wanted to walk away, he was stopped by a rough voice of the Capitan.

"Be careful out there lad, there is a reason why children don't live in Asshai. Never go out after dark, it is simply not worth," advised the older man.

Harry turned around and walked away after nodding to the man. The Capitan was an interesting man and Harry found himself talking with him from time to time. The Capitan was curious why such a young person would travel alone and to Asshai nonetheless.

While Harry didn't give the man the full truth, he told him some twisted story he created in case someone got too curious. From there the Capitan would come to him tell some stories about his travels around the world. Harry was grateful as thanks to them, he got some new information about the world he now lived in.

Sighing, Harry finally stepped into the city and took a look.

There was still some time before the sun would go down so Harry expected a lot of people to be walking around. Surprisingly the number of residents Harry saw, was low. The wizard would expect such crowd from a medium populated market-village, not Asshai.

Harry didn't know if people in Asshai preferred to stay at home or they just came out later, but he wasn't complaining. Even if it might be easier to be unnoticeable with a bigger crowd, now Harry would be able to move easier through the city.

Still, it didn't stop the wizard from observing the people and buildings around him.

Well, there was not much to tell about the architecture style as buildings, streets, and walls of Asshai are made out of black stone that seems to drink the light making the city appear to be a dark and gloomy place. Harry much more preferred the buildings in Qarth, at least there everything didn't look like it was the den of a Dark Lord.

Luckily people were a bit more interesting, but only a bit. Most of them had a dark and solemn appearance. They wore masks or veils and often walked alone. The only thing that was the same as in every other city in Essos were slaves. From what Harry saw they were mostly used to carry palanquins made of ebony and iron. Probably only the wealthiest here could afford things like this.

Still, there was one thing that made Harry very happy.

Magic.

During his walk around the city, he already saw a few people using magic. Most of them were able to control fire, but Harry also saw a few who could levitate small things.

Because of this discovery, Harry couldn't help but spread his senses a bit and try to feel the magic around him. There was magic in Asshai, a lot of it, much more than in the house of the Undying. It was vast, wild and had some darkness in it, but it was still magic and Harry was glad to find a place where it was still alive.

Finally, Harry decided to stop his exploration and head into the direction where he saw some shops. He needed to resupply and see what people sell here.

It didn't take him long and after a few minutes, Harry again had a pouch full of food. There wasn't much to chose from as Asshai always needed to buy food for the entire city, but it was enough.

In the market area, Harry also found some shops that he wanted to visit sometime during his stay. He could feel some magic coming from them so he would come back after he found a place to sleep.

At first, Harry wanted to find an inn and buy a room, but he soon realized that Asshai really had a really low population. Thus a lot of buildings stood abandoned. So with that information in mind, Harry found a building close to the market area and made himself fell as comfortable as he could.

Thankfully the house had furniture in a pretty good condition so Harry didn't need to create a makeshift bed for himself. Also, doors were all working so the wizard could place his ward stones without the fear of anyone coming in. He also managed to recreate a low powered locking charm during his travel on the boat, so he could use it on the doors.

After the wizard secured his new home, he laid down in bed and went to sleep.

_When Harry opened his eyes again, he saw that he definitely wasn't in Asshai. No, this was another one of his weird dreams._

_He looked around and saw the vast lands covered in snow. The wizard couldn't even find one spot where the ice or snow wasn't present. Another confusing thing was that Harry could feel the coldness around him. It shouldn't be possible, it was only a dream. _

_Just then the winds began to pick on and the snow started to fall. After a few moments, the blizzard encompassed his form and Harry was forced to close his eyes. _

_He stayed like that for quite some time before the winds went away and he could open his eyes again._

_Harry quickly recognized he wasn't in the same place anymore. The snow was still there, but before him on a hill, stood the weirdest tree, expect from the Whomping Willow, Harry ever saw._

_It was a very large bone white tree. It had five-pointed leaves and the sap was blood-red. Another interesting part of it was the face carved into its trunk. _

_Harry watched the tree for quite some time. It seemed really familiar and the wizard needed to go through everything he knew about this new world before he realized what he was watching._

_Weirwood tree._

_Weirwoods were considered sacred to the followers of the old gods and childer of the forest from legends believed weirwoods were the gods. For Harry, it was a bit weird to think of a tree a god, but he already met Death itself so he could be a bit biased._

_The wizard also would love to know, why in Merlin's name he dreamed about white tree. At least in his last dream, he saw a city not a single tree..._

_Then his thoughts came to a stop when a swarm of ravens appeared out of nowhere and rushed towards the wizard. Harry fell down on the snow and was forced to close his eyes to defend from the swarm. Just then something hit him in the back of his head and Harry was forced awake._

A gasp was heard when Harry finally awoke in the abandoned building. The boy quickly checked himself for any injuries before he sighed in relief. Those dreams were getting weirder and weirder. Plus their realism unnerved Harry a bit. He wanted to belive those dreams were just that, dreams.

Unfortunately, he needed to think about every possibility even if he didn't want to believe in them. The river in Asshai was too similar to the one from his dream and Harry needed to investigate it. Then there is the problem of Death. Harry wouldn't be surprised if the dreams were its work.

After Harry finally came out from his thoughts, he gathered his things and got ready for the day.

He again went for a stroll around the city as he wanted to explore more before he went back to the market area and visited the shops. Harry's mindless walk lead him to a building which was surprisingly colored in another color than black.

The black was still there, but the material from which the chapel-like building was built, had also some crimson coloring. Harry could feel the magic coming out from it, so he couldn't help but take a peek through the open doors.

Inside he saw a woman, who looked like she was in her late twenties and was dressed in a crimson robe, standing on a podium with a big goblet of fire placed before her. Harry shuddered a bit a the sight of another goblet of burning fire, but he quickly pushed it in the back of his mind.

The woman wasn't alone in there. No, around her Harry could see at least twenty people who watched her in daze. The woman then began talking in a language Harry couldn't understand and the wizard could see the flames began to move.

Curious, Harry tried to feel the magic coming from the goblet.

When he got too close to it, the Fire's magic reacted and tried to push on Harry's Occlumency's shields. Harry quickly backed off and ran away from the building as fast as he could.

When Harry was sure no one followed him, he leaned his back against some building's wall and calmed his breath. Fire shouldn't be able to use legilimency and Harry wasn't sure what to think of this event.

The magic in the goblet was controlled unlike anything else in this world and had a mind of its own. While this whole situation was unnatural, Harry decided to focus on it later when he got more information about this city and its occupants.

With the decision made Harry went back to the market area. On his way there Harry walked by the river Ash. The river as completely black and the wizard couldn't think of any reason how it happened. Then there were the fish which from time to time showed themselves on the river's surface. They were deformed and Harry needed to stop himself from trying to take one for some tests. It was better to leave it alone for now.

Finally, Harry arrived back near the shops that caught his interest yesterday.

When he walked into the first one, Harry saw multiple wooden shelves on which stood things made from material that Harry recognized quite quickly.

Dragonglass or obsidian. One of the most important products imported from Asshai and a very interesting material if what Harry felt was right.

The boy walked towards one of the shelves and picked a small figurine. Harry couldn't recognize what it presented, but he didn't care about something so unimportant. What Harry cared about, was the feeling he got from the small stone.

It was the same feeling he got when he held his ward stones. And that meant Harry just found a material he could use with runes which wouldn't cost him a small fortune.

Harry tried to channel magic a few times through the stone and he was pleasantly surprised with the outcome. The magic was a bit harder to channel than when Harry used a ruby, but it was good enough.

The wizard then placed the figurine back on the shelve and browsed some more.

After a few minutes, from the backroom walked a man. Harry had problems with identifying his age as the man wore a hood and a traditional mask that hid his face. The wizard was a bit wary of the man and he probably showed this in his posture.

The man chuckled lightly and said in a voice that had some accent in it, "No need to be so tense lad. I am just a friendly shopkeeper."

Harry snorted and replied dryly, "Yeah, you definitely look friendly."

This time the man laughed openly and it took him some time to calm down, "You might be right, kid. Now tell me how can I help you?"

Harry looked around a few times before he settled his gaze at the shopkeeper, "Do you sell unrefined dragonglass?"

It was hard to judge the man's reaction with the mask, but Harry deduced that the shopkeeper was probably curious why a kid would want to buy obsidian.

"I have. If you can provide the coin then I won't ask why do you need it."

Harry nodded and searched for some gold in another pouch inside his bag. He gave one coin to the man and the shopkeeper examined it closely. He then walked out of the room and left Harry alone.

The boy didn't need to wait long as the man came back after a few minutes with a quite big leather bag. "The bag for ten of your coins."

Harry quickly checked the inside of the bag and after he saw the big amount of small stones he nodded. The wizard then exchanged the coins for the bag and walked out of the shop.

With his first transaction done, Harry took another pouch from his bag and quickly filled it with the obsidian. He didn't want to carry them in the previous bag as it was too big.

When Harry finished, he walked towards the other shop, from which he could feel a lot more magic than from the previous one. Again inside Harry saw several shelves and a simple wooden counter.

Unlike the previous shop, in this one the items sold were different. Goblets, stones, weapons and other items one could use in their house filled the store. Harry also saw one important difference between the two shops. While in the last one everything was made out of Dragonglass, in this one almost everything was made out of gold, silver or another high-quality metal.

Harry, like in the last shop, picked one goblet as he wanted to see why he could feel the magic coming from them. After a minute of observation, he finally saw them.

Runes, or at least Harry supposed those were runes. He didn't recognize any of them, but he could feel the magic they gave out. The wizard studied them for a few more minutes before he decided to move onto another item.

He walked to the weapon section where he saw a pure-black blade. It was a simple shortsword without a guard. When Harry took the blade into his hands, he could see the same weird runes like on the goblet.

"Wonder what is it made of," Harry murmured under his nose while he gave the sword a few test swings.

"A blend of Obisidian and a metal that came deep from the Vale of Shadows. Even I don't know what it really is," responded a soft elderly voice. The sound startled Harry and he almost dropped the sword.

_"Just like Ollivander," _Harry thought after he calmed down. Releasing a last calming breath, Harry turned around to face the newcomer. It was a tall man with short, gray hair that showed his age. He didn't wear the standard mask and Harry quickly deduced that the man was definitely not originally from Asshai. He had blue eyes a few wrinkles on his face.

"I apologize for startling you. I just came out from the backroom and saw you inspecting one of my most prized possessions... My name is Maran, now how can I help you lad?"

Harry nodded and then thought of a name to give. He already decided to use a pseudonym so he might as well start now. "Umbra," Latin for shadow, he was in Asshai-by-the-Shadow so, for now, it should be enough. It was not like he would use it later, he had his own name. "I wanted to ask about the symbols on the items in your shop. Do you know what they are?"

Maran nodded, but Harry saw the slight raise of his eyebrow when the wizard gave him his name. "Those are runes. I engraved each one of them and then fuelled them with magic. Magic that I can also feel from you."

Harry shrugged, "There are a lot of people who can use magic in Asshai, so it is not surprising I also have it."

The man chuckled a bit, "Yes... you are right, but there are a few differences between you and other magic users in Asshai. Your magic is stronger and you are a child of no more than two and ten name days. And if there is one thing everybody knows in Asshai, it is that there are no children in this city."

Harry stiffened a bit. No-one stopped him before because of his age so he thought that no one cared, but here he was. If the man would try something, Harry feared a repeat from the House of the Undying.

Maran noticed the shift in Harry's posture so he quickly raised his hands in a placating manner, "Don't worry young man. My words might have come a bit harsher than I intended. I just wanted to explain my reasons why I breached the topic of your magic. I am not originally from Asshai, I live here because magic is the strongest in this place. "

Harry relaxed a bit, but he was still wary of the man. In hopes of changing the topic, he said, "So about those runes."

The man smiled brightly, "I will explain them to you if you show me some of your magic items. I can feel them on you."

The wizard sighed, it looked like the man had some special ability to sense magic around him even better than Harry could. The boy decided to get some assurance that the Maran wouldn't try anything against him.

Harry looked the man into eyes and sent a soft legilimency probe. He trained with the art during his trip to Asshai and maybe he would be able to at least read Maran's feelings.

And it was a good idea as Harry instantly fest the shopkeeper's emotions. He couldn't feel any malicious intent towards him. The man radiated pure curiosity, so Harry retraced his probe as it wouldn't be good if Maran managed to find out about Harry's ability.

After getting his proof, Harry took out one of his enchanted pouches and gave it to the man.

Maran studied and tested the pouch for a few minutes and then handed it back to Harry, "Wonderful piece of magic. Now if you don't mind, we would sit down and exchange some knowledge about our arts."

And so they talked for the next few hours. Harry was quite comfortable during this talk as he missed the contact of someone who also could use magic.

Finally, Harry decided that it was time for him to go back to his 'home'. After Maran and Harry exchanged goodbyes, the wizard moved towards the exit door but was stopped by the shopkeeper, "Why don't you come back tomorrow lad. I would love to learn more about those runes of yours and some help in the shop would be nice. I am not getting any younger."

Harry nodded and left the shop with a smile on his face. He might have just found someone who would be able to help him as Bronn did.

* * *

**One and a half year later, early 292 AC**

Harry was right about Maran. The man helped him even more than Bronn did.

After a few weeks of Harry's visits to Maran's shop, they decided that Harry would just work for a few hours every day in the shop. The wizard didn't mind as it earned him some money and he could learn more about those new runes from Maran. The shopkeeper was of the same opinion as now he could relax for some time and learn Harry's version of runes. With time Harry began to trust the man more so he told him his true name.

Thanks to Harry's stay in Asshai he managed to learn some of the local language. It wasn't much but it might be useful in the future.

Then there was Maran's and Harry's work on runes. The two worked hard to combine their knowledge on the subject and create something new. They were somehow successful and managed to create a few things that would be really useful in the future. The first one was a rune matrix that created a quite big explosion.

The rune matrix was placed on a small obsidian stone and after Harry or Maran channeled some magic into it, they could throw it and it would explode after a few seconds. Harry wanted to create something like muggle Granade as who knew when some explosive power would be useful.

Their next creation was something Harry wanted to recreate since he came to this world. Stasis enchantment. Finally, Harry could put food under a stasis and it wouldn't spoil. It would be a major help during his travels.

There were also a few minor discoveries, but nothing too important.

Even though Harry spent a lot of time on runes, he still trained with magic and explored the magic in Asshai.

He learned about shadow binders, blood mages, fire mages and some people who could create illusions. Harry stayed away from the first two as this was the kind of magic the wizard didn't want to use. Fire mages couldn't really teach him anything as he already could do almost as much as they could when he arrived in Asshai. Now his fire and ice magic were a lot stronger and Harry could use it longer without tiring as much. He also managed to recreate some charms like summoning or cleaning. It was not easy, but those two spells will be helpful in Harry's not so normal life.

Harry also managed to meet with one of those mages who could use illusions and learn something from them. It wasn't much as Harry quickly discovered he had no talent in illusions. Fortunately now he could put a small illusion over his hair or eyes to change their color. Maybe now he would be able to go into one of the Free Cities without being reminded he looked like someone of Valyrian descent.

Apart from his standard magic training, there was one thing that Harry was proud of. Even if it was still incomplete.

Animagus transformation. Harry feared that with the discovery of transfiguration not working as it should, the wizard wouldn't be able to get back his animagus change. Fortunately, after a lot of meditating with occlumency, Harry finally managed to at least confirm that he still could use the transformation. While his form was nothing special, it would make his life easier. Unfortunately, it would take some time to get the change correctly again.

And so the life in Asshai was surprisingly good for Harry, but he knew he needed to also focus on different things than magic.

Like sword-fighting. Fortunately for Harry, Maran had a friend in Asshai who agreed to train with Harry from time to time. The wizard also received the black shortsword from Maran so he needed to learn how to wield it alone and with Blackfyre. The lessons were going quite nicely and Harry was grateful for the help.

Of course, Harry also wanted to learn more about the Shadow Lands and maybe find the city from his dreams. He finally found his answer in one of the talks with Maran.

**Flashback**

_The unlikely duo of a man above his sixties and a kid barely above ten was walking near the river Ash. The just closed the shop for the day and now it was time to relax. _

_Harry looked at the river which now without sun glimmers with a pale green phosphorescence. It looked the same as the river from his ream and Harry couldn't ignore the fact any longer._

_"Maran," Harry began slowly, "Is there any other city near Ash in Shadow Lands?"_

_The man looked thoughtful for a moment before he shook his head, "Not really lad. While there are no active cities out there, there is one which is a ruin. Stygai, also known as the City of the Night. It lies by the Ash, in the Vale of Shadows. Stygai is said to be a haunted corpse city. I don't know what to think of it, but from what I know even shadow binders fear it."_

_That was probably the city Harry dreamt of. Of course, it would lead him to a haunted and ruined city. Even then the wizard needed to find a bit more about it._

**Flashback End**

And Harry did search through every book he found for some mention of the corpse city, but he always came up with nothing. Still, his search through some obscure books gave him a very interesting bit of information.

The wizard had no idea if it was even true, but some texts said that when dragons were alive, the magic was much easier to use. Maybe it meant that a few centuries ago people could use magic like in Harry's old world. Unfortunately, he had no way to check the truthfulness of this theory, so Harry went back to his problem with Stygai.

Even if it wasn't for the visions, Harry was intrigued about the City of the Night. He wanted to find out what is so special about Stygai if Harry needed to have dreams about it.

So after his discovery, Harry decided to prepare. And now after one a half year, the wizard was quite sure he would be at least able to escape if he needed. His magic was stronger, his skills with a sword were better and his body grew up a bit.

A year and a half was a long time to stay in a place like Asshai, and Harry was slowly getting sick of some of the things that happened in this city. It is better to move on before he did something stupid.

That's how the time went and now Harry was ready to go. He already prepared a lot of food rations and placed them in his pouch with stasis enchantment.

As of now both he and Maran were standing on the road that led upriver. Harry was now dressed in an outfit that was mostly created out of black leather and every piece of clothing had some protective runes on them. They were quite strong, but Harry knew that they wouldn't save him from anything serious.

Finally came the time for goodbyes.

"It was nice to meet you, Maran. Hopefully, when I come back, I will be able to tell you what I found. Try not to die till then," Harry tried to joke a bit, but he received a glare in reply.

"I still can't understand why you would want to go on this suicide trip. I understand you are strong, but some things are just better left alone."

Harry sighed a ran a hand through his hair, "I know, you already told me this at least a hundred times and I promised that if things get bad, I will turn back. I need to go there or I will go mad."

That was the truth as Harry was getting more and more dreams of the city and the tree in snow lands. He needed to find out if the dreams showed something important or they were just Death's game.

"Alright lad. I see there is no stopping you, but remember to be careful. The way might not be too long, but it is dangerous, so always remember to put wards around when you go to sleep," the old man reminded sternly.

Harry nodded and after they exchanged their last goodbyes, the wizard threw his hood on and covered the rest of his face with a cloth.

Now it was time to follow the river into the Valey of Shadows.


	6. Into the Shadows

The first few hours of Harry's journey were highly uneventful. The city of Asshai was already a long way behind him and now Harry's only companions were the pale green glimmer of river Ash and the rocky mountains that surrounded him from both sides. No matter how far Harry went, the water's color remained the same. The wizard began to wonder how the river looked in the place from which it flowed. Maybe he would check it one day.

Harry hoped Stygai was really the city he saw in both his dreams and visions. If he was wrong then the wizard would waste a pretty big amount of time for this trip. And it was better not to mention all of the dangers people spoke of when he asked them about the way to Stygai. Harry would rather not fight any demons and dragons. He was out of their league.

As Harry walked, his mind began to wander. Specifically to the visions, he saw in the House of the Undying. During his stay in Asshai, he tried to find their meaning and after all this time Harry was still not sure if he got everything right.

He didn't need to think too much about the first two visions as they represented his past life and the biggest fear. Even after the war with Voldemort Harry wanted to forget about his life with relatives, so to get a visons of them after so many years was quite disturbing. Fortunately, he already dealt with those memories so he had no problems with pushing this vision into the deepest corners of his mind.

The vision of Harry's biggest fear was a bit more difficult to deal with. Hermione was not there to talk and while the wizard liked Maran, he didn't trust him with something so personal. Thankfully due to Harry's experience, he was able to deal with the fear and forget about it. It was much safer this way.

Now, the next vision of big city was something that intrigued Harry. He really wanted to know where it was, maybe he could visit it someday and see why he had a vision of it. Luckily for the wizard, Maran again showed his knowledge.

** _Flashback_ **

_Both Harry and Maran sat by the table in the former shop's backroom. They sat in silence while working on some runes. Finally, Harry decided to make some small talk to pass the time. At first, the two talked about some minor things, but the white-haired wizard slowly shifted the topic onto the city he saw in his third vision in the House of the Undying. Surprisingly Maran had the answer._

_"It is no surprise that you don't know what city it is," he began, "From the description, I would bet it is King's Landing in Westeros. I might be wrong, but it fits quite right."_

_Harry raised an eyebrow at the man. The wizard studied some books from Westeros and even some maps, but there is not a chance he would be able to guess it right just from book knowledge. _

_"How do you know it?" the boy inquired._

_The older man got a faraway look before he came back from his thoughts and explained, "When I was much younger, I liked to travel. Essos, Westeros, even the Summer Isles. I visited almost every corner of those lands during my life. Unfortunately, I hadn't had enough time to travel to Sothoryos and Ulthos... So it is no surprise that once I was in King's Landing."_

_Now Harry was interested, maybe he could learn something about the city he didn't know of, "So how was it?"_

_"What, King's Landing?" at the nod from Harry he continued, "Well for one it smells of shit."_

_The wizard leveled Maran with a deadpan stare, "And for real?"_

_The older man laughed at Harry's reaction, making the younger boy quite irritated. Finally, after a moment, he stopped, "Oh I am not kidding, it really smells like shit."_

_"So are you telling me that the Westeros' Capital's most recognizable feature is its smell of shit?" Harry asked with a sweatdrop._

_"Yes."_

_Harry sighed, "Alright, let's just forget I even asked. Now, what else can you tell me about the city? Apart from the smell," Harry finished the last part in exasperation._

_So Maran told Harry what he knew. Unfortunately, it wasn't much as it had been some time since the older man was in King's Landing so his information might be a little out of date._

** _Flashback End_ **

After this talk, Harry didn't know what to think of his vision. He guessed he should wait until he went to Westeros.

Luckily for the wizard, his fourth vision was a bit easier to unravel. After a quick look into books about Great Houses in Westeros, Harry recognized the three animals as the Houses of Lannister, Stark, and Baratheon. Then there were the dragons that intrigued the wizard. Again Harry had no clue why he would see anything regarding Westeros. After giving the vision a bit more time, Harry concluded that maybe war between those four Houses affected not only Westeros but also some of Essos.

Even then it didn't explain much as at this moment Harry was a long way from Westeros and it will be probably quite some time until he went there. So without any more ideas for this vision, Harry moved onto the next one.

In the fifth one, Harry didn't see anything. It was just the one voice of a man. Probably someone from his previous world as the wizard didn't have anyone so familiar in this one. One thing that bugged Harry was how familiar the voice sounded. He tried to remember where he heard it, but nothing came to his mind. Guess it would be something that remained unanswered forever.

The next vision was about the city to which Harry hopefully was going. He still wasn't sure, but Stygai was the only city that had a river like Ash running by it and was surrounded by rocky mountains.

Harry really wanted to discover if the city some time in the past had races other than humans living in it. Not even in his previous world existed a place, in which every magical race could live. So even if the city was a ruin, Harry wanted to see if he could find some traces of those species.

Then there was the last vision which Harry saw in the chamber of Undying Ones. It was probably the most intriguing one.

To see someone wielding Blaclfyre with such skill was something awe-inspiring for Harry. Of course, there were also the inferi-like creatures that the man in vision fought. After this vision, Harry began to think that maybe Death had another motive than just amusement in sending him to this universe.

The wizard would rather not mention the ice creature, but knowing his luck, he probably would meet it in battle someday.

Sighing Harry finished his train of thoughts. He was getting tired and it was time to rest.

After another ten minutes of walking, Harry found a place of behind a rock which would hid him quite well. The wizard then placed ward stones around his place of rest to create a big dome of protection. While they would not harm any attacker, it would wake Harry up, so he could deal with the intruder himself.

After the wards were up, Harry gathered some sticks for a campfire. Then with the use of a bit of magic, he had a small burning fire ready. He would extinguish it before going to sleep, but for now, he could enjoy the warmness.

When he woke up the next day, Harry took out some food and after a quick meal, he was ready to go. The wizard gathered the ward stones and continued his journey.

During his walk, Harry noticed that even though he knew it was daytime, the way before him was getting darker and darker. It seemed that the Vale of Shadows really ate every bit of light going inside of it.

It was a bit annoying to walk in the dark when it was rumored for shadow binders to live in this place. Unfortunately, there was nothing Harry could do about it. Guess he would need to travel like it was, with only the river as his companion.

With a shake of his head, Harry banished those thoughts from his mind and focused on the way before him.

* * *

**A few weeks later**

A few weeks passed since Harry began his journey to Stygai. It was mostly uneventful and the wizard was grateful for it. It looked like the rumors of demons and dragons were untrue and Harry released a breath of relief when after so much time nothing attacked him. Even then Harry still used his ward stones when he went to sleep. It was better to be safe than sorry.

The scenery in which Harry walked also changed a bit after the first week. No longer he traveled with Ash on his right. The river now flowed in lower parts of the Vale when Harry continued to go higher and higher. It was not easy as sometimes the road was destroyed and Harry needed to climb the rocks or use magic to make a passage.

During those moments he began to notice how the air and magic changed, the deeper Harry went into the Shadow Lands. The air became thinner and sometimes he had trouble breathing if he got too tired.

Now, Harry knew the air was meant to become thinner in mountains, but he wasn't even that high. Harry refused to believe for a moment that this change was natural, especially with the difference in magic.

The deeper into Shadow Lands Harry went, the more controlled the magic was. Its wild aspect somehow slowly disappeared and all magic Harry used was easier to cast. Of course, it would be too good without any drawbacks and Harry quickly found out what they were.

He got tired a lot faster with every bit of magic used. Af the beginning of the trip it was unnoticeable change but now, the wizard got tired almost three times faster than normal.

The changes to air and magic caused his travel speed to lower. No longer could Harry walk for six hours straight, now if he managed to travel for two then the wizard was happy. It might have been a bit annoying in the beginning, but Harry figured out that it was better than being attacked every few hours.

Luckily yesterday Harry noticed that his trek up would end soon. Day or two more and he should be able to see Stygai in the distance as he would finally get into the heart of the Vale.

Unfortunately, he was again getting tired. So with a heavy sigh, Harry spotted a withered tree by the road and decided to put his camp there. Again Harry created a dome with his wards and gathered some wood for a campfire.

After the wizard ate some food from his stash, he got as comfortable as he could on the ground. With a tired yawn, Harry slowly fell asleep. He deserved it after the whole day of walking with only a few stops to rest. He was really pushing it today even with the changes to the environment.

_Surprisingly, when Harry opened his eyes again, he was no longer in the Vale of Shadows. It looked like those weird dreams visited him once again. He didn't have one since he began his journey to Stygai. _

_This time he appeared in some kind of meeting room. In the center of the room stood one big circular table with ten beautifully crafted chairs to sit in. Otherwise, the room was mostly dark so Harry couldn't see walls or doors which led to this room. _

_Still, the most interesting part of this vision was probably the two occupants of the room._

_The first one was definitely a male. He was tall and from what Harry could see his body was slender but didn't look weak. He was dressed in clothes one would expect from a high born. Even then Harry was mostly interested in the man's features._

_His eyebrows were slanted and he had pointed ears. He was probably an elf and Harry was always highly curious about the race._

_The elf was now in shouting match with the other occupant of the room. Unfortunately, Harry couldn't hear a word so it wasn't too helpful. The interesting thing was that while the elf looked furious, the other being only sat calmly in one of the chairs and listened to the shouts without even moving an inch._

_Harry would love to see who it was, but the being was shrouded in darkness and Harry couldn't see a thing._

_The vision lasted for a bit longer before it changed to another scene. _

_This time he was in a dimly lighted room. Again Harry couldn't see much apart from the center of the room. There stood a big stone pedestal which was covered in runes in every place. They were much different than the ones Harry learned from Maran so again he couldn't recognize them._

_But even then, the pedestal was not what intrigued Harry. No, the blood-red crystal levitating above the pedestal took the cake. It was big, probably bigger than Harry's head. From time to time it pulsed with power. _

_Even though it was a dream Harry could feel the magic in the crystal. It was powerful, not even the Veil of Death in his previous world gave out so much power. It was weird to feel such magic in a vision. _

_Harry would observe the crystal for a bit longer, but at this moment he felt a warning going out in his head. So without wasting any more time, Harry forced himself to wake up._

When Harry opened his eyes, this time in the real world, he instantly felt that something was wrong. The wizard quickly stood up and grabbed his new, black shortsword in his right hand. Then he tried to feel the magic and looked around.

It was darker than it should be and Harry quickly found the reason why.

Shadows covered his dome of wards from every side and Harry couldn't see anything through them. The wizard quickly summoned fire into his left hand as he recognized what was happening. With a quick wave of Harry's hand, the campfire was again burning brightly, so now the wizard had a constant source of light.

A shadow binder was attacking him. Harry could feel that whoever it was, the magic-user was stronger than the shadow binders in Asshai.

The white-haired boy cursed under his nose and prepared for the fight. He had some experience with shadow binders as he met a few in Asshai. Some of them were not as bad as the rumors said and they even agreed to a mock fight with him. Their shadows were quite powerful and Harry feared a bit if he could handle the new enemy with his current abilities.

Thankfully the wards stopped the shadows from advancing into his camp so at least Harry could have some ground to fight. It would be interesting to see how the shadow binder wanted to attack him.

He didn't need to wait long for the answer as after a minute, from the dome surrounding him, out walked a humanoid looking shadow. It was taller than Harry and had a sword of darkness in its hands.

The Shadow ran at Harry and the boy took a stance so he could intercept the attack a bit easier.

The black and shadow blades met each other in a silent battle and Harry was surprised when the attack was weaker than he expected. Don't get him wrong, the Shadow was still stronger, but it was nowhere the strength of Bronn or Harry's teacher in Asshai. Luckily for the wizard, whatever the new opponent was, it was slower than the boy.

Harry managed to find an opening in his enemy's stance, so he used his better speed and slipped through the Shadow's guard and ran his sword through its abdomen. To make sure of his opponent defeat, Harry sent a wave of flames at the Shadow.

Thankfully it was enough and the Shadow disappeared.

Unfortunately, Harry didn't get any time to celebrate his victory as in the next moment two more humanoid shadows walked out of the dome. The wizard again cursed his luck as this fight just got a lot harder.

Harry didn't have any experience in fighting two people at the same time so the Shadows quickly managed to put the wizard on defense.

Again Harry used his superior speed to dodge most attacks, but he was slowly getting overwhelmed by the sheer number of blades pointed at him. The wizard also tried to send flames at his opponents, but without first disarming them, the Shadows always dodged his attacks.

Harry would use some other branches of magic, but with the higher cost of use in the Vale, he didn't want to tire too fast. He would rather save his strength for the final enemy. Harry just hoped that the shadow binder couldn't hold the shadows forever.

During the next few minutes Harry dodged and blocked the blades of Shadows, but even then he couldn't avoid everything and a few times his opponents managed to cut him. Thankfully his enchanted leather armor protected him from getting any serious injuries and Harry managed to escape with some light cuts.

Finally one of the Shadows fell for Harry's feint and the boy managed to sneak his left hand through its guard and sent a big wave of flames at it. Now Harry was again in a one versus one fight so it should go a bit faster.

The two exchanged a few blows but it was visible that the Shadows couldn't fight as well as a human who trained with a sword for a few years. So Harry capitalized at the Shadow's weaker sword skill and after a minute he was driving his blade through his enemy's chest.

In the same moment when the Shadow disappeared, Harry felt a shift in magic in the shadows around him. Thanks to this feeling, the wizard managed to roll just in time from another sword which wanted to take his head off.

When Harry stood up and looked at his new opponent, he saw that this Shadow was a bit bigger and bulkier. The sword it wielded was also longer, but still covered in shadows.

This time it was Harry who ran at his new enemy. He tried to end it fast and try the same feint which worked on the previous shadow. Unfortunately, the Shadow was not fooled and he swatted Harry away with his free hand.

The wizard groaned loudly when he stood up and felt the effects of Shadow's blow. It was stronger than the previous Shadows and now Harry's whole right arm was stiff.

Harry didn't get any time to relax as the Shadow was already on him and the wizard was forced to dodge once again. He couldn't use his sword to black as his arm wouldn't be able to handle the strength of the blow.

So for the next ten minutes, Harry danced around the Shadow in hopes that whoever was controlling it would get tired faster than him. Unfortunately, even Harry's superior speed didn't save him from getting another few cuts.

Slowly, but surely Harry noticed that the Shadow's moves began to slow down. Now, the wizard would shout in joy if it wasn't for the fact that he was also tired. Thankfully, he still got some strength in him and Harry used this strength and both hands to block the oncoming blade.

It was painful, but the block had the desired effect of surprising the Shadow. Harry quickly pulled his left hand from his shortsword and directed it in the direction of the Shadow's heart.

When the attack connected Harry looked up where the Shadow's face should be and was surprised when the shadows slowly began to disappear, leaving a man dressed in a black cloak and a traditional mask which people from Asshai wore.

Sure, Harry knew that this attack should defeat this Shadow as when Harry looked down, his fist was covered in ice and a blade created of the same material ran through the man's heart. It was something that Harry thought of on a fly and was glad it worked.

After Harry got out of his shock, he dismissed the blade of ice and let the now identified shadow binder fall on the ground. Harry himself sat down to recover from the fight.

The dome of shadows disappeared with the death of its creator and now Harry was sure the fight was over. The wizard knew he couldn't just sit there, so he went to his bag and took out some medical supplies to take care of his cuts.

After ten minutes he was done. Next, Harry went back to the shadow binder to search through the man and see if he had anything useful.

Harry found a few coins and a black stone which radiated darkness. Knowing he couldn't leave this stone, the wizard took out Blackfyre and lit it with flames. He then placed the stone on the ground and directed his sword at it.

With a quick swing, the stone shattered and from it, a large number of shadows escaped. They took forms of humans and animals, for Harry it was a mesmerizing sight as the figures run far away and slowly disappeared.

Even then Harry wasn't sure what the stone was and he was probably better off not knowing.

The wizard decided to rest for half an hour before continuing his journey. During this time he gathered all his things and got something to eat and drink.

Finally, after his short rest, Harry resumed his walk and after 2 hours of walking, he finally got to the highest point of the road. When he looked in the distance, Harry could see the river Ash going behind some walls made of black stone. Looking a bit farther, the wizard saw the ruins of a city and a bit higher in the mountains he noticed the same castle he dreamed of.

With a hint of a smile on his face, Harry began his trek down the mountain.

* * *

It took him four days to get to Stygai's gates, but he finally did it.

The walls and gates were big, about sixty feet in height and were made out of some black stone Harry couldn't recognize. The gate didn't have any doors as they were probably destroyed a long time ago. Surprisingly the walls were mostly in good condition.

Harry didn't waste any more time and walked into the city. Instantly he felt a change in magic. The wizard quickly tried to summon a small fire in his hands and after a few seconds, he finally managed to do it.

Doing magic in the city was almost impossible. It was like something stopped its flow. Harry wanted to know why, so he extended his senses and tried to fell magic around him.

He was surprised by the outcome. The magic in Stygai felt rotted... almost hollow. It was there but at the same time, it felt like it wasn't. Magic should never give out such a feeling.

Sighing in frustration Harry began to walk through the city.

Most of the buildings were destroyed and ruined, but there was one thing that got Harry curious. Every house he saw was of black color and Harry could remember clearly that in his visions, the buildings in Stygai had different colors.

So with a thoughtful look on his face, Harry walked toward one of the walls of a house and ran a hand on its surface. It felt a bit weird and the wizard got even more curious.

He even tried to push some magic into it, but it was instantly absorbed. Frowning Harry took out Blackfyre and swung the blade towards the wall. He managed to cut away some of the black material and surprisingly in the place of a cut, Harry saw some kind of redwood.

Intrigued, Harry crouched down and took the piece of cut of material in his hands. Not even a moment later it turned into ash.

Harry looked around in shock and saw that something changed. It was like he got pulled in some kind of vision, but was stopped before he could fully get into it. The world around him looked the same as earlier, but now, Harry could also see transparent people walking around the city.

At first, Harry thought those people were ghosts, but he quickly noticed that it wasn't the case. He saw humans, dwarfs, goblins and what he assumed were elves walking around.

In the same moment, a girl of maximum five years old ran by him shouting, _"Mom come on, dad is waiting!"_

Next said mother walked by Harry and said, _"Calm down dear, your father won't escape."_

After the duo walked away, Harry stood there perplexed. He could understand them which was something new. Still, Harry had no clue why he was seeing this.

Frustrated, Harry shook his head and looked around in hopes of finding a clue. He didn't need to search too long as after a moment he saw a man with a hood on looking directly at Harry. The person gave him a nod and then the vision slowly disappeared.

Harry was slightly put off by the person's action as this was the first time a vision interacted with him. Still a bit annoyed, Harry walked towards the place that the figure stood in a looked around.

Like earlier, the vision shimmered into life and Harry again saw the same person a bit away from him. After another nod, the vision disappeared and Harry again moved.

This situation happened a few more times, with Harry always following the figure. He walked for about an hour before Harry came upon a road that led up. When Harry followed the path with his eyes he could see that it went towards the castle.

With a sigh, Harry accepted that something wanted him to go there. Normally, he wouldn't charge ahead like that, but Harry didn't want to sleep in this city. The magic was too hollow here for him to get a good night of sleep.

Harry steeled himself and began his trek to the castle.


	7. The Past and the Present

In the beginning, the way towards the castle was quite easy. Just a simple walk on some grey stone. Harry was surprised that nothing changed for almost ten minutes when he was halfway to the target.

Unfortunately like always nothing could be so simple. When the second half of the road began, Harry started to notice a drain on his magic. At first, it was nothing too alarming, but the higher he got, the more magic got drained.

Harry tried to regain his magic back, but it didn't work. It only speeded up the process. So with a quick decision, Harry began to run. He already could see the entrance doors to the castle so he should be able to make it in time.

And he did. When the wizard got to the big, dark, metal doors, he tried to open them, only to fail.

He tried a few more times and the doors didn't even budge. Harry was beginning to panic as the drain on his magic was getting stronger and stronger so he didn't have too much time left.

Without any good ideas, Harry decided to do something quite stupid.

He pushed some of his magic towards the doors and tried to cast an unlocking charm. The spell didn't work, but it seemed the doors just needed some magic to open as after Harry pushed his magic in them, they quickly unlocked.

The wizard didn't waste any time and ran straight inside the castle.

The moment Harry did, he regretted his decision as the doors shut down with such force that the wizard was surprised they didn't break.

"Great Potter, what did you get yourself into again," mumbled Harry with annoyance seeping into his tone. The only plus of getting locked in this castle was his magic was no longer being drained. Now he would only need to find a way out. That was after he explored this place and rested for some time.

With a sigh, Harry looked around to observe his new surroundings.

He was standing in an extremely big hallway. The walls and floor were made out of some black material which Harry couldn't recognize and what probably was marble. The wizard never was someone who paid too much attention to architecture, but even he could admire how the interior was built.

On walls, Harry saw multiple flat sculptures which didn't really make sense to the wizard. Some of them represented humans or other creatures, but others showed symbols that Harry never saw. He quickly gave up on his attempts to understand them and moved on with his observations.

There wasn't any furniture in the hallway and Harry was left wondering if it would be the same in other parts of the castle.

Shaking his head, Harry looked at the stairs, there were a few of them. Two of them were located on each side of the hallway and lead to the upper floors. There was also a single staircase located in the center on the room and this time it went down.

The moment Harry laid his eyes on the staircase, he felt a pull on his magic. A bit scared, the wizard quickly checked if his magic was being drained again. It wasn't.

He released a breath of relief and tried to focus on the new feeling. Surprisingly it only wanted Harry to follow the pull. Fortunately, it wasn't the first time Harry came upon something like this so his worries quickly went away.

He thought for a bit if he wanted to follow the feeling at this moment, but decided against it. The wizard was tired and some rest would do him good. The big question was, where he could stop for a moment. Harry had no idea what was inside the castle so he couldn't just go to sleep in the middle of a hallway.

In the end, Harry decided to sit down in the corner and get something to eat. Sleep would need to wait until later. For now, he would wait to regain some strength and then go down the staircase.

* * *

Harry had no idea how long he sat in the corner of a hallway as it was almost dark in the castle. He ate some food and after he felt that he was ready to go, Harry stood up and followed the staircase into the lower parts of the building.

The way down was quite long and at one moment Harry wondered why anyone would create a space so deep under the castle. He could understand a basement or some kind of a bunker, but 5 minutes of walking down were getting quite disbelieving. So when the stairs ended, Harry almost screamed in joy.

That was until he saw another endless hallway with doors on left and right. Harry looked at the room in disbelief and sighed. He just couldn't get a break. Fortunately for him, the pull was still there so Harry knew where he needed to go.

It took a few minutes of walking and checking out the rooms around him to finally get to the place from which the pull originated.

It was a big circular room with a high ceiling. This time the walls were made out of some dark blue material that had a magical feeling to it. Harry couldn't recognize the effect the material's magic caused and he was quite irked by this fact. Apart from the new material, the room was dim lighted and Harry couldn't see any furniture apart from two very interesting objects.

The first one was a big stone pedestal that stood in the center of the room and was covered in runes. It was the same one from Harry's dream, but now he could see the runes more clearly. Unfortunately, it didn't mean that he could understand them. Like with the strange symbols in the entrance hallway, those runes were completely foreign to him.

Still, like in Harry's dream, the pedestal was not what caught his attention. No, the blood-red crystal levitating above the pedestal again took this place.

Like earlier, it was a bit bigger than Harry's head and gave out some kind of glow. When Harry reached out with his magic to check it out, he almost drowned in the pure amount of energy radiating from the crystal. It was like nothing that Harry ever saw. The only thing that came close to the crystal in the aspect of magic, was the Veil of Death in his old world.

Then Harry again felt the familiar pull and he couldn't stop himself from walking towards the crystal.

Just when Harry almost touched the crystal, his every sense screamed at him to dodge. He managed to slide to the right, just in time to avoid getting slashed by a sword.

He should have known that something like this would happen. Harry was lucky his magic and sword fighting training managed to save him from getting killed. The wizard then turned around to face his new opponent.

It was definitely a man judging by the person's build. He was taller than Harry and probably almost every human that existed. His clothes consisted of well-crafted, black leather armor. It was definitely of much better quality than Harry's and the wizard wondered if he could get one for himself. There were also more of those weird symbols carved into the armor and Harry again was annoyed for his lack of knowledge about them.

The wizard couldn't see the man's face as it was hidden under a hood. Then Harry's eyes drifted to the man's hands which were holding two short swords.

All in all, if it wasn't for one important fact, Harry would say the man looked like an experienced fighter.

The important fact was quite simple... the man was transparent, much like a ghost only without the gray colors. Harry didn't know what to think of this piece of information. He never met a ghost who could interact with the real world like a normal person and he was quite sure that this phantom didn't have that problem.

Harry didn't get any more time to think as the ghost swung both of his swords at Harry and the wizard was forced to draw his own shortsword to block the attack.

Whatever the ghost was, he was much stronger than the shadow binder Harry fought a few days ago. With only one block Hary felt pain in his arms. This fact led Harry to his decision of focusing on dodging from now on. Who knew how many hits he could block before his hands gave out.

The wizard barely dodged a few attacks and was left amazed by the phantom's abilities. No ghost should be able to fight like this, not even the resurrection stone could summon solid people. At least that was what Harry thought, he never really had a chance to test the Hallow after he threw it away in the forest. A mistake on his part, but who could have known that he would need this information now.

Again his thoughts were stopped by the phantom's attack which Harry was forced to block as it was too fast to dodge.

Annoyed Harry tired to push the ghost away with magic. To Harry's surprise the moment he used the magic, it was absorbed by an unknown force. The wizard cursed under his nose at the very important fact and quickly dodged to the left as another swing was coming at him.

With his magic useless Harry was again forced to dodge and block from time to time. The wizard's hands were getting weaker and weaker after every block and Harry wondered what he was supposed to do now. He vowed to himself that if he somehow got out of this, he would create some kind of magic to help him with the physical aspect of fighting. It was annoying that everyone was stronger than him and now the ghost was even faster than any adult Harry faced before.

It was clear that the ghost was toying with him and Harry was not amused by the fact. He already tried to use his magic again, only to get the same outcome. He could only set his blade aflame and it didn't help in any way. Still, thanks to using fire, Harry discovered that magic was no longer hard to use like it was in the Vale of Shadows.

With his flaming sword, Harry tried to find an opening in the ghost's guard and maybe get a lucky hit, but he couldn't see anything. The man's stance was perfect and Harry began to realize that he was not fighting a shadow binder who didn't have too much experience with a sword. Harry won the fight in the mountain only because he could use magic better than the shadow binder. This ghost or whatever it was, had skill that probably matched Bronn's or Harry's instructor in Asshai and the wizard couldn't use magic.

It was quite depressing to know that your enemy was toying with him and Harry was wondering why the ghost just didn't finish it.

The fight went on for another few minutes with Harry dodging almost every attack. Unfortunately, there were times when the ghost managed to land a hit and injure Harry a bit. To the boy's surprise, the ghost never aimed at a place which would weaken Harry's ability to fight. No, he only hit places that hurt a little, but not enough to harm his skills.

When Harry thought that his situation couldn't get worse, the ghost began to increase the speed and precision of his attacks. The wizard barely noticed when the man managed to hit Harry's left arm with the pummel of a sword and kick him in the chest.

Harry fell to the floor a few feets away from the phantom and groaned at the pain in his chest.

The ghost was just too strong and skilled for Harry to defeat. The wizard couldn't do anything against him, no matter what he tried, the ghost always had an answer for it. Harry began to wonder if this was how he would die again.

He already made peace with Death and knew that someday he would die in this world. Then he would finally meet his family and tell them the stories of his both lives. Two years ago Harry wouldn't even be against dying again, but now he didn't want to. The wizard loved the freedom he gained when he came to this world, he loved his travels to new places and he loved learning about the magic in this world. It was his second chance at a completely new life and Harry wouldn't throw it away without even trying. He wanted to live, even if Death had another reason than its amusement to throw him in this world.

With a new resolve, Harry gathered himself and stood up. His shortsword was lying a few feets away from him, so the wizard couldn't get it. With a sigh, Harry unsheathed Blackfyre and got ready for the hardest fight in his life.

Harry quickly used magic to put his sword aflame and rushed at the ghost. If the phantom was surprised at Harry's renewed will to fight, he didn't show it. He only blocked the boy's every swing and began to fight anew.

Harry had some problems with using Blackfyre as it was still hard to wield with his smaller frame. This fact caused Harry to be slower and less precise than always. Luckily his new will to live gave him enough strength to at least defend from the ghost. For a moment Harry even thought that he had a chance.

Unfortunately, the ghost was still better and more skilled so not even a thirty seconds later, the phantom performed a move so fast that Harry couldn't even see it. Blackfyre flew away from Harry's grasp and the boy now stood unarmed. Before Harry could recover from the surprise at losing his blade, the ghost for the first time during the fight used magic.

It was some kind of banisher as Harry flew through the room, straight into the wall behind him.

When Harry finally hit it, he was in the world of pain. He didn't care about the fact that the ghost used magic. No, right now it wasn't important. The wizard lost and in hopes of at least harming the ghost, Harry focused almost all of his magic and pushed it towards the phantom.

This time the spell went through and the hooded man staggered a bit. Harry didn't see the effects as he was trying to ignore the pain he felt. It wasn't as bad as a Crucio from Voldemort, but it still hurt.

Finally, the wizard looked up when he heard steps coming towards him. Harry gave out a humorless chuckle, "So it's the end... I thought I will get a bit more time. Guess not."

To Harry's surprise, he got a snort in return before the man spoke in a deep but a bit melodic voice, "The end? You might be hurt, but you are nowhere near dying. I wouldn't dare to kill someone who finally managed to get to the heart of the City of Night or Stygai as the people call it now."

Because of the pain, Harry only managed to hear about half of what the ghost said, "Wouldn't dare to kill me? My broken bones would argue with you." The wizard didn't really care that he was disrespectful or sarcastic. It was the only thing left to him after getting disarmed and beaten.

The man frowned under his hood. He must have overdone the magic push if the boy was in so much pain. Shaking his head in disappointment he said, "I apologize for my last attack. It was meant to be much weaker, but it looks like my magic is a bit rusty after so many years of not using it actively."

Harry looked at the phantom incredulously, "Why are you apologizing? You won the fight. Now if you could tell me why am I still alive?"

The ghost sighed in annoyance. It looked like the boy just ignored half of what he said. Deciding to at least help the young human a bit, the ghost closed the distance between the two and laid a hand on Harry's shoulder.

When the hand touched the wizard, Harry felt a burst of magic going through him. It was powerful and ancient. Before Harry even noticed almost all of his wounds disappeared and his bones were no longer broken.

The wizard never experienced such advanced magical healing. Not even the best of healers from his old world would be able to fix him so fast. Then there was the feeling of the ghost's magic. It was powerful and felt almost the same as the crystal in the center of the room.

"How?" Harry asked in astonishment.

The phantom chuckled a bit after he backed away from Harry, "I am old, I had years to perfect my magic and with the connection to the heart I can do so much more."

"Connection? Heart? What do you mean and who are you?" Harry fired out his questions not even caring about the fact that the man almost killed him a few minutes ago.

The man waved his hand and a semi-transparent chair appeared. After he sat down, the ghost addressed Harry once more, "It's a long story. One you need to hear as you are the first person who managed to get to the heart in millennials. As to who I am. I am the remnant of my race, the past, and this city. My name is no longer important, but I can at least show how I look if you do the same."

Still, curious Harry removed every piece of clothing that covered his head and waited for the man to do the same. He didn't need to wait long as the ghost pulled down his hood revealing a face of a man in his late twenties with dark brown hair. He had the typical noble features that Harry was used to seeing in purebloods from his last world.

Then Harry saw the man's ears and gasped. they were pointed and Harry couldn't help but ask, "Are you an elf?"

The man raised an eyebrow, "Elf? That's the first time I hear of this word. No, my race had its own name, but you would need the knowledge of our language to understand it."

Harry frowned, "So what am I supposed to call you. You wouldn't tell me your name and I don't know what you are."

"It is not important, you can call me whatever you want."

The wizard shrugged in return, "Well, elf it is then."

The elf said a few words in a language that Harry couldn't understand before he addressed Harry once more, "Now that you don't have any more questions, let me explain why you are still alive," after a short pause the man continued, "You see millenniums ago the now named Stygai was the center of the known world. It was the place where every race could live together and don't worry about the conflicts between them.

My race, dwarves, humans and many others lived here in prosperity. Magic was openly practiced and taught here. Whoever wanted to learn, they could do it. We lived in peace for centuries with only a few minor problems here and there. Unfortunately like always there will be someone who wants to destroy the peace. To understand what happened next I need to tell you more about my race.

You see my people were mostly like humans with only a few differences in our looks like ears or voice. But it weren't our looks that distinguished us from other races. No, it was our magic. We had a better connection to it and almost every member of my race could use it, unlike humans or others. We were also able to live a bit longer and some of us were more physically capable.

That's why my people were the rulers of Stygai and what are now Shadow Lands. We built it with the help of dwarves and as they didn't want to rule, we took the role. No one was against our rule and we tried to be as fair as we could. Unfortunately like I said it didn't last.

A few years before the fall of our city an organization was formed which stood against my people. They had members of almost every race and wanted to get rid of us. At first, we ignored them and we quickly paid for it. They began to hunt members of my race who were alone or away from the city. In just a few years we lost almost half of my people.

That's when we finally decided to strike back. We were stronger than them so we quickly managed to eliminate some of their members and stop the rebellion. During the next few years, we all thought that the threat was destroyed and we could again live in peace..."

The elf stopped here and got a faraway look. It was visible that whatever happened next was very painful for the man to even think about. Harry, himself was intrigued by the story. He still didn't know why it was important for him to know it, but he couldn't help but wonder how much older Stygai was from the oldest of the Free Cities in Essos or the Golden Empire of Yi Ti.

Harry stopped his train of thoughts as the man again began to speak.

"What happened next was dreadful. One of my people discovered that the organization was not dead, but in hiding. For years they were working on a way to kill us all. They found it. Somehow they managed to create a ritual that targeted my race like a plague. Day by day more of my people died without any explanation of why and how.

Unfortunately, the ritual they created had some unexpected side effects. As time went on, the lands around Stygain began to deteriorate. Tress and plants began to die. Animals disappeared. And our river became what it is today. Every inhabitant of the city who wasn't of my race escaped when the deterioration began.

It was a few days before the effects of the ritual would reach the regions outside the Shadow Lands, that we managed to find a way to stop it and fix the damage it caused. We created this crystal and pedestal. We called it the Heart as it would tap into all of the magic around Shadow Lands and stop it from expanding further. Then it would slowly repair the damage.

We knew we needed someone who would stay here and guard the crystal so I volunteered. With the help of another ritual we bound my life to the crystal, so I could stay here until the heart fixed the damage and then destroy it.

Unfortunately in our hurry, we didn't expect for me to get so tightly bound to the crystal that I couldn't destroy it after it finished its work. I was forced to stay here for years and watch the world around me with the help of the crystal. I could see what was happening in the entire Shadow Lands, but I could never leave the castle."

Silence came upon the two occupants fo the room. Harry thought long about this whole story and found it almost unbelievable. To think that here he was, the first person in millenniums to enter the castle in the city of Night. Still, there was one point in the story that Harry didn't understand.

"Wait, you said that the heart was meant to fix the damage done by the ritual, but Shadow Lands are still destroyed," the wizard inquired.

The elf nodded, "You are right. The heart indeed did the job, but the effect won't show until the crystal is destroyed and the magic will be free again."

Now Harry understood. Not only the crystal bound a man to endless life, but it also stopped the recovery of Shadow Lands. Knowing that his 'saving people' thing wouldn't just let him walk away, Harry looked the elf directly in the eyes and asked seriously.

"Alright, so what do I need to do?"

The elf looked up shocked at Harry's question before his face broke into a large smile. "Thank you. You don't know how much it means to me. I always felt like I failed my people because I couldn't destroy the Heart. I was already thinking of a way to convince you, but I am glad that you will do it anyway... You know, I was wondering how you managed to even get here as the entrance to the castle was warded against anyone who wasn't one of my people, but now I know. Somehow your connection to magic is almost as good as mine and the ward thought that you are one of my race. At least now I believe that my race won't end here."

Harry got perplexed at the last statement, "Wait, didn't you just say that you are the last of your race?"

The elf shook his head, "While I am the last of my people that I know of. It doesn't mean that there are not any of us alive somewhere away from Shadow Lands. Even then I wasn't talking about them. You see when we were working on a way to stop our people from dying, we tried to create a potion that would heal any illness, damage or curse placed on the drinker. We partly succeeded. The potion worked as it should, but it never could heal anyone from my race and had one side effect.

Anyone who drank the potion was turned into something similar to my people. Not entirely but close. Most of their old looks remained, but their connection to magic got stronger. We never worked out, why the potion caused this as we didn't have enough time. Still, we saved two last vials of the potion just in case. Now before you say anything, I am not telling you to drink it. You can save it and use it when you or someone you care about will be mortally wounded. I just ask that you take it with yourself and guard it."

Harry nodded at the long explanation. He didn't know what to think about this potion, but he wasn't planning on drinking it anytime soon. He would need to think about it.

The elf then stood up and walked towards the Heart, "To destroy the crystal you will need to use your longsword. I can fell the magic of dragons coming from it and it should be able to pierce the crystal. Now before you do it, I need to tell you a few important things.

Two more items will come out from the pedestal when you destroy the Heart. The first one is a small book. It is written in a language unknown to you, but when the time comes, you will understand what is inside. I won't say what the second item is, but from what I felt from your magic, I am sure that you will find it useful.

When you destroy the crystal, a wave of magic will go through the entire Shadow Lands and every magical user there and beyond should feel it. They won't know what caused it, but they will know where it came from. It would be best if you escaped the city as soon as you can.

Last but not least, you need to be careful. I don't know if anyone from the organization is still alive, but if they are, there is no saying what they will do. So watch out."

During the elf's explanation, Harry stood up and moved next to the Heart with Blackfyre in his hands.

"I have one last question. What about the other races who lived in Stygai. Are they even alive?" Harry inquired as he wanted to know if there was a chance to meet more mystical races.

The man shook his head, "I have no idea. They left a long time ago and they either died out or moved far away from here. Maybe some of them will come to see what was the source of the magic blast, but who knows..."

Harry nodded and pointed his sword at the Heart, "It was a pleasure to meet you, even if you almost killed me."

The elf released a loud chuckle, "A pleasure indeed. Goodbye. Now do it."

With this last command, Harry plunged his sword into the crystal and watched as the Heart slowly cracked. The wizard could feel the build-up of magic inside of it and he didn't get enough time to shield himself when the energy exploded outwards.

And that was how for the third time this day Harry was sent flying before he blacked out.


	8. Aftereffect

**Chapter 8. Aftereffects**

* * *

With a groan, Harry opened his eyes after finally waking up. He really didn't expect such a powerful blast that came after he destroyed the crystal. Due to his carelessness, his head felt like Hagrid used it as a seat. Don't ask how he knew that, some things were better left unsaid.

The chamber was still lowly dimmed and Harry needed to focus his eyesight pretty hard to see if the room was still fine. Fortunately, for the young wizard, it looked like only he was affected by the magic blast. That was good as Harry wasn't too sure if he had enough power to make his way up with only his magic.

Now that his thoughts went towards magic, Harry noticed that once again he could feel it without any problems. He slowly lifted his bruised hand and summoned a small fire above it. He released a sigh of relief when he met no resistance and the small flame appeared instantly. That could only mean, that whatever the crystal was doing to the magic around Stygai, disappeared.

That was very good as at least now the way back would be a lot easier. No longer would he need to stop every two or three hours. Harry was curious how fast the effects of destroying the heart would show in Shadow Lands. He couldn't wait to tell Maran what really Stygai had inside. The old man was a nice company and Harry was glad that he at least had someone familiar in this world. Bronn didn't count as the man only stayed with him because of the gold.

Finally, Harry decided that it was time to gather everything and escape from the city as the elf-like ghost said.

He shakily stood up on his stiff legs and looked towards the place where the Heart and pedestal previously stood. The crystal was nowhere to be seen and half of the pedestal was blown to pieces. In its place, Harry saw the three items that the phantom spoke about.

Harry could hardly believe when he saw the first item. Now he understood what the elf meant when he said it would be useful to him.

The wizard quickly walked toward the item and almost felt down when his legs refused to move. Luckily he slowed down in time and when he got before the pedestal Harry crouched down and grabbed the now confirmed dragon egg.

It was snow-white in color with small scales that covered the entire egg. It was a bit bigger than Harry's head and when he touched the egg, the wizard could feel the warmness coming from it. That gave him hope that maybe one day the egg would hatch.

Harry quickly took his bag and slowly hid the egg inside one of the bigger, enchanted pouches. It was good that he came prepared as it would be difficult to carry the egg without his enchantments.

Smiling slightly Harry put away the pouch back into the bag and went to gather the rest of the items.

Like the phantom said one of them was a small leather book that excluded a small amount of magic that Harry felt when he grasped it. It was weak and Harry knew that no one would be able to feel it. Curious he opened the book to see if he could read it.

He couldn't.

Whatever the language was, for Harry it was gibberish. Nothing made sense and Harry just accepted that he would need to wait to discover whatever the book was hiding.

Like with the egg, Harry hid the book inside his bad and gathered the last item left to him.

This time he took a small wooden box in his hands. It was nothing special if one would ignore the runes carved into the wood. Harry tried to feel magic from them but came out with nothing. The magic in those runes probably disappeared along with the destruction of the Heart so it was no longer protected.

Harry slowly opened the box to check if the contents were still in good condition. Fortunately, they were, as in the moment Harry opened the box he saw two vials of an unknown potion. This time Harry could feel the magic coming out of them the moment he ran his finger along the glass. The potion itself was of a dark green color and gave out a slight glow. Harry decided to not think how bad it would taste, he had his share of bad-tasting potions in his life.

Sighing Harry recovered another pouch from his bag, this one had some protection runes on it so it should defend the box from most harm. Later Harry would need to create something more secure.

With his task done, Harry laid his back against the remains of the pedestal and thought on what to do next. He needed to get out of this castle as fast as he could, but he really wanted to check if there is something in the building that could be useful to him.

Maybe he should just listen to the phantom's words and escape now. It wouldn't do him any favors if anybody found out that he was behind the magical blast that probably was felt through the entire Shadow Lands. No, Harry would eat something and then he was getting as far as he could from Stygai. The question was if he wanted to go bask to Asshai or maybe follow Ash deeper into the Shadow Lands.

While it sounded like an interesting idea, Harry knew that his supplies could run out before he encountered a city. So he decided to just go back to Asshai, rest here for a few days and then he would decide where to go next. While Asshai was not too bad of a place to live, Harry wanted to see more of this new world. Maybe a visit to Yi Ti or Ulthos would be interesting.

Shrugging Harry took out some rations from his bag while deciding to put those thoughts in the back of his mind.

Within a few minutes Harry was full and this time nothing was stopping him from finally getting out from the castle. After he secured his bag and weapons, Harry began his trek up the stairs. After a minute of walking, he realized how long it took him to get down and the wizard released a few curses. He really needed some faster way of traveling. Hopefully, his animagus transformation wouldn't take much longer, it would really make his life at least a bit easier.

After another ten minutes, Harry finally saw the end of the stairs and came out in the same hallway he entered. Nothing changed apart from the doors being wide open.

Harry frowned a bit. While he suspected that after destroying the Heart he would be able to get out, he didn't expect every ward in the castle to fail. While he was pretty sure that there was nothing too important in the castle, as the ghost would probably tell him about it, Harry couldn't help but worry. The castle was protected by ancient wards and the Heart for millennia and now it stood completely defenseless as Harry couldn't even feel an ounce of magic with defense intent.

Unfortunately, there was nothing Harry could do about this so with a heavy heart the wizard walked through the big open doors into the open.

Harry was slightly surprised when he saw that Stygai was no longer completely covered in shadows, but this time some rays of the sun illuminated the previously dark and gloomy city. It wasn't much, but even this small change brought visible effects.

Harry put a smile on his face and began to trek down the mountain, all the while looking around to see if he would be able to notice more changes. When he got further down, Harry managed to notice that some of the black material that covered every structure in the city began to slowly fall down. This surprised Harry a bit as he didn't expect this change to occur so fast.

He really wanted to know how Stygai would look after a few months so Harry vowed to himself that one day he would come back here.

Deciding to forgo his decision to leave the city instantly, Harry made his way deeper into the city in search of something interesting. He didn't find anything apart from a few wall sculptures. Some of them showed the residents while other different events in the history of Stygai.

While he really would love to explore some more, Harry knew that he already wasted enough time and it was time to depart. So a still smiling Harry made his way through the empty streets all the way to the gate he came through. With a final look at the city, Harry released a deep breath and began his walk back to Asshai.

* * *

It took Harry almost two days to get back to the peak of the mountain from which Harry could see the entire Stygai. This time the trip was way more pleasant than previously as Harry no longer got tired so fast and needed to rest every two or three hours. Also with his magic no longer being harder to use Harry began practicing his fire and ice control while walking. Nothing too extreme as the wizard didn't want to cause too much damage or make himself a beacon in the middle of nowhere. Who knew if someone already went into the Vale to see what happened.

During those two days, Harry decided to make his way back slowly instead of rushing it. He didn't really want to go back to Asshai so the wizard took his time and enjoyed the scenery and the already visible changes in the Vale of Shadows. Some would probably say that there was nothing to enjoy here, but Harry would disagree.

While it's the truth that Shadow Lands had almost no plants, it still had a certain charm that was not easily found anywhere else. Plus with Ash getting clearer day by day Harry wanted to observe the changes as it was interesting to see and feel the darkness disappearing from the river.

Now that Harry finally got to the highest point of the road, he could see Stygai and the entire Vale of Shadows in the distance. Even after those short two days, the Vale was much more... nicer as beautiful would be a bit too much for now. Maybe in a few months.

Shrugging Harry turned away from the view of the Vale and made his way back to the temporary camp he made earlier. He sat with his back leaning against a rock and brought his bag before him.

Carefully Harry took out the white egg and placed it on his lap. Every time Harry stopped for a break be it to sleep or just rest for a moment, he couldn't help but take a look at it again. It was beautiful, of that there was no question, but what interested Harry the most was the magic it emitted.

Harry by no means was an expert on reading magic auras, but he still had a better connection to magic than most so it gave him some ability in 'feeling' the magic.

The magic inside the egg was quite strong, but it felt like it was asleep. Harry deduced that it was probably some kind of spell that let it survive for so long, but he knew that it wasn't the entire truth. As Harry didn't like the new unknown, he spent some time every day to uncover this mystery and maybe even find a way to hatch the egg. Unfortunately nothing he tried worked.

Channeling magic into it?

Nothing.

Placing it in the fire?

Again nothing.

He even tried to do both of those at the same time and the result was still the same. Thankfully he only had the egg for two days so it wasn't enough to get Harry too annoyed.

Harry sighed at the still unresponsive egg and slowly placed it back in the bag while bringing out the small book. Another mystery that Harry didn't like too much.

The 'elf' said that Harry would be able to use it when the time was right, but the wizard couldn't help but be a bit skeptical. Alright, Harry might have crossed dimensions, but this was Death's work, but how in the hell was he supposed to get the knowledge of a dead language. The book itself had some magic in it, but Harry doubted that it was enough to somehow teach him this weird language. He was probably overthinking it, but who could blame him.

Harry shook his head as he skimmed through the pages in hopes that maybe, just maybe he would find something useful. Unfortunately, like many previous times before Harry found nothing.

Sighing again, the wizard put the book back inside the back and this time he fished out the last item he brought from Stygai.

The box with two potions.

At least those items Harry knew what they did, even if not completely. Harry thought long about them, did they really heal any wound, even those fatal or did the 'elf' exaggerated their effect a bit?

Harry hoped that the ghost was right as the wizard knew that sooner or later the potion would be needed. Be it for him or for someone Harry cared for.

Of course, Harry also thought about the side-effects of taking the potion. Would his connection to magic get even more powerful, would there be any other side-effects, maybe to his appearance or something that the 'elf's' race hadn't discovered before they died.

It was a bit mindblowing. And here Harry thought that magic in this world was much more undeveloped than in his old one. He would need to be more careful from now on. Who knew what he would encounter during his travels. He already made a big mistake when he went after The House of the Undying. Harry was unprepared for the Undying Ones and he paid for it. Guess old habits die hard.

Putting the box away Hary got up and put the fire of his camp out. It was probably a good idea to get some rest for another day of a long walk.

* * *

**A few days later**

A little more than a week later Harry again stopped his trip so he could get some training done and then rest peacefully.

Nothing major happened in the past week apart from the ever-changing environment around him. Harry was glad to see the first green plants and leaves appearing here and there. Not too many, but one could see the change in the previously gloomy passage between the mountains. Ash was even clearer and Harry even made some tests to see when the water would be drinkable.

Unfortunately, it seems that even though the river's appearance got better, it's quality was still far from good.

Apart from the slow walk Harty also tried to find more about the three items he took from Stygai, but like previously he discovered nothing. Frustrated at his failure, Harry decided to just focus on getting back to Asshai and training his magic. He would talk with Maran, maybe the old man knew something and could help him.

Now though after a few hours of training his ice magic and animagus transformation, Harry was tired and wanted to rest.

Unfortunately, like always luck was not on his side and just when he wanted to lay down and get some sleep, Harry heard some voices coming in his direction. He quickly gathered all of his things and put the fire out before hiding behind some rocks.

After a minute the voices got closer and Harry could finally make out what they were saying.

"We should stop soon. it is almost dark and I doubt that the kid would travel during the night," said a deep male voice. Harry prayed to whatever was listening that the 'boy' they were talking about was not him. And even if they were, why were they searching for him?

"Don't be stupid Lazaro, the kid had enough balls to go into the Vale of Shadows so I doubt that darkness would make him stop. Just hurry up, we will rest in an hour," this time the voice came from a female and Harry quickly deduced from her tone that she was probably the leader of the group.

After a few seconds, another voice grumbled, "I still don't know why we are searching for a stupid boy Alila. With our magic now being stronger, we should focus on getting more control over Asshai."

The female, Alila, snapped at the man, "Shut up idiot. The improvement in our magic is the sole reason why we are here. The pulse of magic came from deep into the Vale of Shadows and the kid was the only one apart from those shadow binders who went there. Plus if what we got from the old bastard was the truth, then the boy went to Stygai and I don't believe it was a coincidence. The boy shows up in Asshai with magic stronger than most of us, go to Stygai and then a few weeks later every magic-user can feel a big blast of magic coming from there. And don't get me started on the changes to the environment... We need the boy. He could be a great asset to the Lord of Light. Now let's get moving and I don't want to hear a word from any of you."

After a minute of waiting, Harry couldn't hear the voices anymore and he released a breath of relief. They were definitely after him and if he heard right they were followers of R'hollor. Harry only knew a few facts about them and he was quite surprised that they would go deeper into the Shadow Lands just for him. Even though the red priests and priestesses were mostly in control of Asshai when he lived there, they mostly kept to their chapels. It was disturbing to hear that they were on move. Harry still didn't know what was the force he encountered when he tried to feel the magic in the fire of the chapel.

Sighing deeply, Harry placed a few ward stones around him, which would notice him of any intruder and laid down to get some rest. He would need to hurry up back to Asshai and see what happened during his absence. There was also the matter of Maran who probably was the old bastard the woman spoke about as he was the only one that knew where he was exactly going. Harry just hoped that the older man didn't betray his trust.

* * *

**Week later**

The rest of Harry's way back to Asshai was spent between walking, running and training. This time he kept his pace and after just a week he managed to get close to Asshai.

He stopped some distance away from the city and waited for the night. If people were searching for him, it would be a bad idea to just enter during the day and get noticed. No, he would wait for the darkness to fall and then find a place for a temporary base of operation. When he was sure that he was safe then and only then he would go check on Maran to see what the hell happened.

After a few hours, it finally got dark and Harry quickly waved his hand over his face while focusing on his pathetic skill in illusion.

Two minutes of deep concentration and now Harry's hair was black and eyes blue. The illusion would need to be enough for now. Hopefully, no one would try to break it.

Harry placed a hood on his head and stealthily made his way into the city. Fortunately, not many people were out at this hour, but from time to time Harry could see a red priest or priestess walking around. Now that Harry thought about it he really should have put some time in recreating some stealth spells, they would be really useful now or in the future.

It took him more than half an hour, but Harry finally managed to get to the more abandoned part of the city. He quickly found an empty building and made his way inside. After securing and checking it, Harry dropped the illusion and took some time to rest. Any illusion he made was very draining on him and it showed. He really had no talent in this particular art, it was quite embarrassing.

Fifteen minutes later Harry again applied his cover and made his way to Maran's shop. It was time to get some answers and Harry really hoped that the old man was alright.

Unfortunately, luck was again not on his side and when he got near the shop, he saw the door was open which was disconcerting in itself. The shop should be closed at this hour so something was definitely not right.

Harry quickly unsheathed his black shortsword and crept his way into the building.

The sight inside was not what Harry expected. The shelves were destroyed, items laid on the floor and he could see some scorch marks in a few places. Luckily nothing was burned. Harry made his way into the backroom only to meet the same sight.

Growling, Harry hit the nearest thing in anger. Again someone was suffering because they decided to help him. He had enough of this in his last wold and he wouldn't let anyone get away with this. No, he would find Maran and rescue him. Hopefully, they hadn't killed him yet.

Gritting his teeth, Harry walked out of the shop and made his way back to the abandoned building. He would start gathering information tomorrow. He was too tired emotionally and physically to do anything today.

The next morning Harry woke up early and after he got something to eat, he applied the same illusion and walked into the more populated city areas in hopes of hearing something that would lead him to discover what happened.

Surprisingly there were a lot more people out than before, they also seemed more lively and Harry wondered if the release of the Heart really affected Shadow Lands so much.

Apart from the more cheerful attitude, Harry saw more magic users displaying their craft a lot easier than before. It seemed that the red priestess was right and now everybody could access magic more freely in Asshai. Harry didn't know if it was good or not.

After 3 hours of walking around and even talking to some people, Harry came out empty-handed. Not even one conversation spoke of what happened to Maran.

For the next two days, Harry tried finding anything related to the old man and he always came with nothing. Harry only managed to discover that the red priests managed to gain more control over the city and some people didn't like it. Not that Harry cared as he planned on getting the hell out of here as soon as he found and rescued Maran. It was too dangerous to stay here.

Harry knew that he wouldn't find anything like that, so he decided to ask someone who he would rather avoid. The mas was shady at best and even though Harry learned a lot about sword fighting from him, he still didn't know his name.

With that decision, Harry waited for the evening and made his way into a quite popular tavern. It was the place where he always met the man before their lessons so Harry hoped that he would be here.

Finally, luck was on his side and after entering the tavern Harry spotted the familiar hooded person sitting alone by a table. Slowly Harry walked toward the man and sat across him.

The man raised his gaze from the drink before him and if Harry could see his face, he would be sure that the man raised an eyebrow at him.

"Why am I not surprised to see you here. Let me guess you want to know what happened?" The man asked quietly. Harry's eyebrow's raised when the man addressed him with such familiarity and got a chuckle in return for his reaction, "Don't be surprised, I would be already dead if I couldn't see through such a weak illusion."

Harry narrowed his eyes before he calmed down, "No matter. You are right I want to know what the hell happened in the month I was away. And where the hell is Maran?"

The man chuckled again, "No worry kid, I will tell you. At least with this, my debt to the old man will be repaid," he paused for a moment and took a sip of his drink, "You see about two weeks ago a large wave of magic was felt through the entire Shadow Lands. No one knew what happened, but the effects were quite clear after a few days. Magic got stronger, Ash became clearer and the feeling of doom went away. I don't know how, but the red priests began investigating what happened and from what I know you were their only answer. A complete unknown, a child in a city where children just don't live, someone with magic more powerful than theirs. It was no surprise that when they heard that you went into the Vale of Shadows they decided to pay Maran a visit and find out more about you."

Here Harry stopped him for a moment to ask a question, "How did they know that I went into the Vale? Only Maran saw me and I made sure that we were not followed."

The man shook his head, "That I do not know. The red priests are a weird group and I prefer to stay away from them. Now back to Maran. I don't know what they asked him or what really happened inside the shop, but what I know is where they took him. He is being held in the main chapel's underground. Now that would be all from me. I hope that you won't take this as an offense, but I hope that we will never meet again."

With that, the man stood up and walked out of the tavern. Meanwhile, Harry was processing the information all the while thinking of a way to get Maran out of the chapel.

* * *

**Two days later**

During those last two days, Harry prepared hard. This time he approached this situation more calmly as to not rush it like with the House of the Undying. He scouted the main chapel and counted how many priests are coming in and out from it.

Harry wanted to get inside more covertly and try to be relatively unseen. Unfortunately, he didn't have enough time to work on some kind of spell that would help him so all he had was his own skill.

He already knew that during the night there were more priests on the streets as they were doing their patrols. Hary decided to get into the chapel when one of the patrols would be going back into the building. With that, it should be easier to find the entrance to the underground.

Dressed in his standard black leather armor, Harry pulled the hood on and used some cloth to cover his face. This time the illusions wouldn't be useful as they would tire him too much. He also sheathed his shortsword and quickly tied a small pouch around his waist. It contained some of the dragon glass fragments he bought, they were covered in runes and if Harry needed, they would be useful during the escape.

With everything ready, Harry made his way through the city and stopped before the entrance to the chapel. If he was right in about five minutes two of the priests would be coming back from their patrol.

Just like Harry hoped, the priests came into sight a few minutes later and looked quite tired. That should be quite the advantage and when the priests finally walked into the chapel, they never noticed a small shadow following them in.

When Harry managed to follow the priests inside, he was glad that the inside was only lit by the same big fire he saw when Harry came to Asshai for the first time. The wizard wanted to investigate the flame, but he knew that it was his only chance to rescue Maran if he wanted to avoid a bloodbath. So with a sigh, he followed the priests deeper into the chapel.

It didn't take them long to walk down into the underground and Harry seeing that the two priests wouldn't be useful anymore, he knocked them out and tied them up for a good measure before hiding them in a corner.

He needed to get rid of as many priests while inside as he didn't know how hard would it be to get Maran out. Still, he wouldn't kill them. They might kidnap Maran, but after they got out of the city, they should have some peace.

It took Harry another half an hour and about seven more knocked out priests before Harry found the room that Maran was kept in. Thankfully magic was quite useful when dealing with those priests.

Fortunately, it seemed that the old man only suffered a few bruises and cuts. Harry quickly walked towards the man and shook him awake, "Maran, quick wake up."

The old man woke up almost instantly and Harry saw that his whole body was stiff. Luckily for Harry, Maran took one look at the boy and relaxed a bit, "You shouldn't have come back for me," he rasped out.

Harry shook his head, "I couldn't leave the only friend I have to die, huh? Now, be quiet and let me get rid of the chain."

Harry quickly unsheathed the short sword and with a quick slash, Maran was free again. He helped the older man and lead him outside. At first, everything went quite well, but just as they were nearing the exit from the underground Harry heard a few voices coming in their direction.

Both he and Maran hid behind a wall and Harry whispered, "When I say now cover your eyes and wait for me to deal with those idiots."

After getting a nod Harry took out a small piece of obsidian from his pouch and got ready.

Thirty seconds later the voices were near them so Harry channeled some magic into the stone and threw it into the hallway before covering his eyes.

The effect was instant as when the stone touched the floor it exploded in a large flash of light. When Harry heard the screams he uncovered his eyes and rushed the three priests to knock them out.

It was quite easy as the priests never saw what happened thanks to the flash of light and soon they laid unconscious on the floor. Proud of his work, Harry went back to Maran and slowly led him outside the chapel.

This time they didn't encounter any problems and ten minutes later they were back at Harry's temporary home. The wizard quickly took care of Maran's wounds and then gave him something to eat. Meanwhile, they were talking about what happened when Harry was away.

It seemed that the priests took Maran in hopes of finding out where Harry was and if that didn't work they would use the older man to bait him out. Fortunately, they never expected Harry to be back so fast.

The two talked for a few more hours and Harry finally broached the topic of what to do next, "Do you know where you want to go?"

Maran smiled a bit, "I heard that a few years back The House of the Undying was destroyed in Qarth and I would like to see it for myself," when he saw Harry froze at the mention of the House, Maran frowned, "Something wrong with my choice?"

Harry shook his head and chuckled sheepishly, "No, no, no. It is just that I might be the reason why the House is in its current state."

Maran opened his mouth in shock and only managed to say a quiet, "What?"

Harry chuckled again, "Let's just say that the Undying Ones were not too friendly. I prefer to forget about this event as what I did was quite stupid."

The older man groaned in exasperation, "Why am I even surprised. Of course, you would be connected with this... Anyway, you are coming with me or do you have any other plans?"

Harry walked towards the window which gave him a nice sight at the sea and answered, "No, I plan on going to Yi Ti, I want to see it for myself," what Harry left unsaid was the fact that Harry wanted to see how different the place was from Imperial China of his world. He might not be an expert in history, but he knew a thing or two.

Maran nodded as he was expecting this answer, "Then I wish you good travels. Now let us sleep, we need to gt out of here tomorrow."

Without further words, the duo drifted off to sleep.


	9. Land of ten thousand tigers and ten million monkeys

**Next Day**

After the duo woke up the next morning, they quickly decided to find a ship that would leave towards Yi Ti and Qarth at the earliest notice. Fortunately, they were in luck as one of the trade ships was just leaving in this direction. With a bit of persuasion and a few coins, both Harry and Maran secured themselves a place to sleep below the deck. It was nothing special but it gave them enough privacy for Harry to practice some magic.

Both waited for the ship to leave before they emerged on the deck so they could enjoy the weather.

After a few minutes of silence and watching the disappearing Asshai, Maran finally spoke, "So tell me, wherein Yi Ti will you go first?"

Harry remained silent for a few seconds while he thought about the answer, "Probably the current capital... I don't really know much about the place so I hope that I will be able to learn about it there. The only problem is the language barrier, but I hope that at least some people there speak common."

Maran nodded in agreement, while not the best plan it was a start. However, he found something that might interest the younger wizard instead, "While your plan is not too bad, I would advise you to wait with visiting the capital of Yi Ti and first explore Leng."

Harry looked at the older man and frowned, "Leng? Isn't that the island a little below Yi Ti? Why would I go there, while I admit to not having too much knowledge about the land, I can't find a reason to make a stop there."

Maran chuckled lightly, "Do you really need a reason to go there? From what you have told me, you just want to travel the world and learn more about magic. And even then, trust me you won't be bored there. Leng has as much history as Yi Ti and I can assure you that you will find it the most intriguing."

After an exasperated sigh, Harry said dryly, "You won't tell me why you want me to go there and won't stop until I agree?"

In response, he got a bright smile, and Harry could swear that he saw the old man's eyes twinkle with amusement. It looked so similar to Dumbledore that Harry almost shuddered. It was better not to think about his past Headmaster.

"Alright, I will stop there," he agreed reluctantly, "From what I remember the Capitan said that we will be stopping by Turrani."

Maran nodded, "Right you are, it shouldn't take us longer than one or two weeks to get there."

Harry groaned, of course, someone would jinx it again. He had enough of delay when he traveled from Qarth to Asshai. "Great now you jinxed it, just so you know I am blaming you if I don't get to Leng in 2 weeks."

This time Maran exploded in laughter. He already heard the tale of Harry's journey to Asshai and it was very amusing to the older man. Still, deep inside he hoped that this time the trip will go according to the plan. He wasn't getting any younger and didn't want to spend more than 2 months on the boat.

Harry glared at the man. Of course, Maran wouldn't understand that Harry Potter's luck was following him even in another world. Harry was sure that Death was having a great time.

* * *

**Five Days Later**

"Found anything?" asked Harry as he walked into the lone room he and Maran acquired on the ship.

"Unfortunately, nothing that you don't know already," replied Maran with a shake of his head. The older man spent the last few days inspecting the three items Harry got from Stygai. Like Harry, he didn't get any new readings from the egg or potions and the book made even less sense. Still, there was one thing that got the attention of both occupants of the room.

"So the only thing useful for now are those new runes inscribed on the box with the potions?" said Harry a bit disappointed. Not that he expected Maran to find anything, it was just getting a bit frustrating to not know what to do with those items.

"Aye lad, still whoever created those rune matrixes was brilliant. They are a lot stronger than whatever we could create with ours. Just look at this," with that said the older man took a piece of boiled leather that was inscribed with runes and channeled a bit of magic into it. The runes gave out a glow that disappeared after a second. "Now use the short-sword and try to stab it."

Harry raised an eyebrow but did as he was told. He didn't use too much strength for his strike, but Harry was still surprised when he saw that his attack almost did no damage.

Putting his weapon away, Harry took the piece of boiled leather and examined it. There was only a small sign after his strike and while Harry was sure that he could pierce it with stronger hit or using Blackfyre, it was still impressing piece of magic.

Harry turned back to Maran and said, "Alright, color me impressed. Those are a lot stronger than our protection runes, now I need someone to make me a light armor of good quality and then inscribe those runes."

"Told you that I can find a way to make those work," Maran paused for a moment and took the rune matrix from Harry, "Now, while it is true that those runes are a lot stronger, there is one important drawback. With our rune matrix, we power it through absorption rune, but this feed on the magic around us. Yes, you can channel a bit magic into it, but it won't hold it for longer than a few minutes. From what you told me, the box in Stygai must have fed off the magic from the Heart so it wasn't a problem there. So as you see we still need to find a way for the rune matrix to store more magic at the same time or you will always need to recharge it after getting hit one time."

Harry sighed as he sat down on his bed, "Nothing can be easy, can it?"

Maran chuckled lightly as he patted the younger boy on the back, "Don't worry lad, we still got a few more days on the boat. I am sure that together we will be able to figure something out. Now tell me what are you planning to do with the potions?"

"Nothing," Harry answered bluntly, "I will probably use it when I will be in a tight situation and save the other one for someone who needs it."

Maran raised an eyebrow, "When? Not if?"

Snorting, Harry looked at Maran disbelievingly, "With my luck, it is always when not if."

* * *

**Turrani, about a week later**

The rest of the trip to Turrani went quite well. There were no storms, no pirate attacks, nor any other surprises which would slow the ship down. During this time Harry and Maran mostly kept to their room. Harry worked on his animagus transformation, while the older man mostly worked on the improved rune matrix.

Fortunately, they managed to find a way to fix the problem. Now the magic could be constantly channeled to the rune matrix and it wouldn't fail after withstanding one hit. There was still room for improvement, but for now, it should be fine.

While Harry was practicing his animagus transformation, which was coming along nicely, he noticed a few things about transfiguration which he missed earlier. First Harry knew that if his transformation was working, even if it was more tiring, then normal transfiguration should too.

With that in mind, Harry again tested his ability to transfigurate and conjure, but this time he paid more attention to the workings of magic.

When Harry first appeared in this world, he dismissed transfiguration because it disappeared at the same moment he stopped focusing on it. Now Harry knew that it was stupid to do as with enough control and focus he could maintain the transfiguration even if it took more magic. Now there was still one big problem. The focus needed to maintain the transfigurations meant that Harry almost couldn't do anything else at the same time. Fortunately, Harry managed to find a few ways to deal with it.

The most logical way would be training Harry's control of magic so it would work like muscle memory which would maintain the transfiguration when Harry focused on other things. Unfortunately, Harry had no idea how long it could take to gain so good control of his magic, so while it was an idea, it could take years.

Next, Harry could use runes to stabilize the transfigurations, so while it wouldn't be too useful in a fight, it could help him in everyday life.

The last idea Harry thought of was a wand. Yes, Harry knew that his magic was different than the one he used in his last life, but maybe in this world, a wand or any other magical foci would help. Harry already tried using Blackfyre and his short-sword, but the results were pretty bad. He could feel the magic going through the swords but it wasn't the same as with a wand. So either Harry's idea wouldn't work or those swords were not meant to be used as foci. In the future, Harry would need to collect some wood and creature samples and try to create something akin to a wand.

Unfortunately, those ideas would need to wait for some time as the ship just finished docking into the port in Turrani. Currently, both Harry and Maran stood in the dock making their final goodbyes.

"It took us a bit longer than expected, but we are finally here. I expect that our ways won't cross for quite some time, don't you think?" inquired softly Maran as he watched the sea.

"It appears so. Try not to die without me old man, hmm?" Harry joked.

Releasing a chuckle, Maran looked at his younger companion, "I think that I should be the one telling you this and with what I know about the island, I would be right."

"You really won't tell me what the hell are you talking about?" grumbled Harry. The older man just wouldn't tell him anything useful about Leng.

Maran shook his head, "No I won't, we are here and you can find out for yourself. Just please don't destroy anything."

"Who do you take me for? And don't even mention Qarth. I am beginning to regret ever telling you about this. Really, I know it was a mistake and it probably won't happen again," Harry tried to defend himself.

Rising an eyebrow, Maran asked with amusement shining in his eyes, "Probably?"

"Oh shut up!" the younger one said with a groan.

"You were asking for it my young friend," this time he adopted a serious posture and said, "Now, what do you plan after traveling through Leng? I don't know how long I will stay in Qarth so it would be nice to know where I should go if I want to meet you again."

Harry though a bit about his answer, he didn't really have any clear plan, only a few places he wanted to visit, "After Leng, I am going to Yi Ti, that I know, but next? I have no idea. I might go towards the Thousand Islands and explore them. I know that I want to make my way towards Bravos, but I don't know when. Still, if you really want to go somewhere next then this would be the place."

Maran nodded slowly, "Aye, I will keep it in mind. I assume that you won't pass through Qarth again?"

"I don't really know," shrugged Harry, "While I would prefer to stay the hell away from there, something might happen and I will need to travel through it. Who knows?"

Just when Maran wanted to say something, one of the sailors approached the duo and informed Maran that the ship was leaving in a few minutes.

"It seems we do not have much time left so let me say this one more time. It was a pleasure to meet and work with you, Harry. I hope that we will meet again in the near future," said Maran truthfully.

"Likewise Maran. Thank you for treating me like an equal instead of like a kid. Take care of yourself and I am quite sure that we will meet again," Harry responded strongly. He would miss the older man, he was one of the few good people Harry met in this world.

With those final words, the duo parted ways and Harry finally turned towards the new city which just waited for him to explore.

* * *

If there was one thing that Harry was not prepared for, it was the surprise when he saw the population of Turrani for the first time. Yes, he read about them, but reading was one thing, and seeing was another.

Lengii race, as that what the population of Leng was called, was the tallest known race of mankind, with some reaching seven or eight feet in height. They were slender people known for their beauty and having skin the color of oiled teak. They had large eyes golden in color which may grant them superior vision over other races. Harry was not quite sure about the last part, but he planned to find out. Maybe it was some kind of inherent magic trait Lengii developed but some investigation couldn't hurt.

From what Harry gathered from Maran and the books he read, the population in Leng depends on where you were. Apart from Lengii, there were also YiTish people living on the island, but it was quite hard to find them in the south. The only thing Harry knew was that after Leng managed to overthrow YiTish rule a few hundred years ago the YiTish part of the population mostly stuck to the northern part of the island. There were probably some of them in Turrani, but for now, Harry still had to see one.

On the other hand, Turrani was quite a beautiful city. Unlike Asshai which was built with the darkest material anyone could find or Qarth which gave you the feeling that you were in the desert, Turrani was quite... exotic.

The walls around the city were built by some kind of crimson stone which looked a lot better than anything Harry saw before. The buildings were made of all kinds of materials, be it stone, wood, or even straw. The last ones probably belonged to some poorer residents, but like with everything else it was something different. Harry was beginning to realize why Maran wanted him to come here. Even if Harry wouldn't find anything useful on the island, it still was nice to see the sights.

Harry finally stopped his examination of the city and decided to find someplace where he could exchange the currency, hopefully, people here could speak the common language or it could get pretty awkward. He really doubted that as Harry knew that not every merchant understood the language here so it would be logical that someone would be able to help him.

It took Harry about half an hour to find a person who could speak common and with a quick exchange of a few coins, the task was done. The merchant was quite friendly, but the man was curious about what such a young foreigner was doing in Leng. Not that Harry answered, the fewer people knew what he was doing here, the better.

The next thing on the list to do was resupplying. After almost two weeks at sea, Harry's stock on food was running dry. This time the task was a lot easier as the only difficulty was finding a place that sold commons goods. Fortunately, most of the merchants spoke common so no problem there.

There was one thing that surprised Harry when he was walking around the city.

Red priests.

Harry would have never thought that such a religion would be allowed in a country that was ruled by a God-Empress. It was probably time to gather more information about the land as it was beginning to get annoying to not know what was going on. Not for the first time today Harry cursed Maran's name for not telling him more.

That was how the next few days went by. Harry explored the city and searched for any information that would prove useful. Apart from that, the young wizard decided to learn at least the basics of Leng language. From what he gathered, it was similar to the one used in Yi Ti so it would help Harry in the long run. Of course, learning a completely new language was easier said than done, but it was something that was needed.

From what Harry gathered the religion of the Lord of Light was accepted in Leng but not too popular, people preferred to worship their ruler. Yes, it had some roots here, but the God-Empress only allowed it to exist as long as it didn't cause any problems. From Harry's experience, he didn't know how it was possible for red priests to not do anything wrong, but it was not his problem... at least for now.

Surprisingly the history of the island was quite interesting and Harry found himself enjoying reading about it and Yi Ti. Better to be prepared next time plus during his readings, Harry finally found out why Maran wanted him to stop by Leng.

Ruins of an old civilization. From what Harry managed to find, and there wasn't a lot of information on them, in the depths of the island's jungles were strange ruined cities, with massive, fallen buildings. Underneath those ruins were endless labyrinths of tunnels that led to vast chambers, and carved steps descend hundreds of feet into the earth.

The last thing that Harry found was quite disconcerting. Those who entered the underground ruins often returned mad or they just never came back. Currently, it was forbidden to enter them, under penalty of death.

Yeah, not exactly the kind of news Harry was looking for.

Nonetheless, Harry was determined to unravel the secrets of those ruins, it might take him so time, but there was no way that Harry would just leave. Unfortunately, ruins would need to wait as Harry ran into a very important problem.

Money.

In Asshai it wasn't a problem as his work with Maran covered all of the expenses, but now Harry was finally running out of it. He could probably survive another month with what he had, but more would be pushing it. That was why Harry decided to search for some small jobs around the city and earn some coin. It wasn't the best option, but it would give Harry some time to think of a better one.

It was during those one small jobs that Harry found another interesting thing about people in Leng.

When Harry first arrived in Turrani, he didn't pay too much attention to the magic around him, but when he was running an errand for one of the guards in the city, Harry finally noticed magic in those people. It was nothing like the magic Harry felt from Red priests or shadow binders. No, it felt more primal and even more wild than normally.

Harry didn't know what kind of magic they used or if the even knew about it, but from what he gathered, the only people with strong magic were a part of military force. That was good to know and it might prove useful later on.

Now though Harry finally decided to do something about his money problem.

From what Harry saw during his time in Turrani, the best selling items came from the tigers that lived in the jungles. Meat, leather, or even teeth, everything could be sold for a good price and Harry planned to make quite some money from it.

That was why Harry decided to travel to the nearest place that some tigers were spotted. Of course, he came prepared with a borrowed horse with a small wagon that would let Harry transport his catch.

Unfortunately, as Harry never really hunted anything, he had no idea how to go about it. Finally, he decided to just make a camp and create a ward line around it that would notice him when something was near. If any tiger came, Harry would use magic to quickly kill it.

Some people would probably be at least a bit scared about facing wild tigers, but Harry had no such problems. He already faced worse and this time Harry was quite sure that he was prepared to deal with normal animals.

And that was how the few first hours went by. With Harry waiting for his wards to alert him.

When the first tiger came Harry quickly created two arrows with his ice magic and banished them in the tiger's direction. It was good that Harry practiced this type of attack for the past few days as one of the arrows missed when the second buried itself deep in the tiger's skull, effectively killing it.

Getting the corpse of the tiger on the wagon was a bit harder as the animal was quite heavy and levitation used a lot of magic. Harry really needed to find out if a wand or any other foci would work in this world. It would make recreating spells from Harry's old world so much easier.

Sighing, Harry prepared himself for another few hours of waiting. He wasn't going back at least for a few days.

* * *

In the end, Harry spent almost 3 days in the jungle. If he wanted to be honest, Harry thought that the hunt would be a bit harder. But it looked like magic was just too strong for normal animals. Not that Harry was complaining, it was good to have something go his way for once.

He managed to kill four tigers and a few smaller animals that came upon Harry's camp. This little hunt should provide enough money for at least a few weeks, so Harry would be able to finally focus on discovering more about the underground ruins of Leng.

When Harry finally got back to Turrani, he quickly met with a man that promised to buy the spoils from him for a good price. It was a good exchange as the man provided Harry with the horse and wagon, even if he was a bit skeptical about such a young boy going on a hunt. It took Harry some time and coins to persuade the man, but in the end, it worked for both of them.

With the new stock of money, Harry again rented a small room in one of the inns. For now, he would stay there for a week and see what he could find about the ruins from the people in the city.

That was how the next few days went by. With Harry exploring more of the city and listening to every rumor he came upon. Luckily, just when Harry decided to get something to eat in the same inn he lived, he heard a discussion about the ruins.

Apparently about a decade ago the God-Empress decided that she would be the one to finally uncover the secrets of the ruins. She gathered forty volunteers from her army and sent them to the nearest ruins from Leng Ma.

The expedition was almost a complete failure. Out of the forty soldiers, only one returned. Fortunately, the man didn't return mad as many feard and after he recovered he gave his report to the God-Empress. Nobody knew what exactly the man saw but after this, the number of guards around the biggest ruins got bigger.

Nowadays the survivor lived as a rich merchant in the higher district of Leng Ma. That was the information Harry looked for. He needed to know what the man saw in those ruins if he wanted to go there. Harry might be brave, but even he knew that going in blind was a bad idea and he wasn't willing to just give up.

It was time to prepare and travel to Leng Ma. Harry would need to work on a plan as it wouldn't be easy to get information from a rich man who didn't know him. In the end, he would probably need to somehow steal this information. Harry just hoped that the man kept a journal of his journey to the ruins. If he didn't then Harry was back to square one.

* * *

**4 weeks later**

The way to Leng Ma was filled with surprises. Harry always preferred to travel on foot as he still thought that he was safer on his own two legs. He tried traveling on a horse, but it always felt wrong to him. Harry really didn't know why, as he never had any problems with brooms.

The first week was quiet, apart from the few tigers that attacked him, and Harry was glad for it as it gave him time to work on his magic. During his few encounters with tigers and other wild animals, Harry gathered a few wounds and he was growing tired of patching them every time.

While Harry was never good with healing magic in his past life, he always could do the spells required from Aurors that were needed in the field. That was why Harry decided to focus on this and another branch of magic for the time being. He hasn't made any great progress, but at least now Harry could heal the small cuts he received all the time. Healing magic required more precision and with the wild magic and lack of foci, Harry was glad that he managed to do anything.

The other field of magic Harry decided to train after his few spars with lower-ranked guards in Turrani. It was quite a surprise to discover what the Lengii people could do with their magic during a spar. From what Harry gathered, they could use the magic inside them to somehow boost their physical traits. Speed, strength, or even reflexes.

Normally Harry could almost defeat those guards after some struggle, but when Harry felt the magic inside them moving the effect was instantaneous. He always got beaten as Harry just couldn't match them. Maybe if he had fully trained, adult body, but now even the worst guards beat him. Of course, Harry could win using his own magic, but that was not the point. Their magic was non-visible, while Harry's created fire and ice. Not too subtle...

That was why Harry wanted to develop his own kind of magic that would help him with the physical aspect of fighting. Unfortunately, even in his old world, the only thing that boosted those traits was ritual and Harry had no clue how to do those. With that, he needed to create a whole branch of magic by himself, and during those four weeks, Harry made no progress.

Also during his travel, Harry encountered one of the fabled ruins. It greatly resembled some of the ancient Mayan temples Harry saw on the pictures in his old world. Unfortunately, the young wizard couldn't get too close to them as there were some guards patrolling the ruins.

Now though, Harry finally arrived at the gates of Leng Ma. The city was very similar to Turrani, but this one was divided into three parts. The lowest part of the city consisted of houses for the common folk and most of the markets. There Harry was quite surprised by the amount of YiTish people who in his opinion looked similar to people in China.

In the second part of the city lived all fo the more well off people. Rich merchants, higher-ranked soldiers and their families, and people who earned God-Empoesses's attention.

Finally, the last part was placed upon a small hill that overlooked all of the city. There, a very Greek looking palace was built. It was quite the sight and for Harry who only ever saw such thing on the pictures, even more. Of course in the palace lived the God-Empress herself and from what Harry heard from the whispers around the street, soon he would see the ruler for himself.

Now though a completely new city waited for Harry to explore and after that, his plans about ruins would continue.


	10. What hides beneath us

It has been about a week since Harry arrived in Leng Ma. The time was spent mostly on exploring the city and memorizing its layout. It was better to do it in the beginning then suffer the consequences later when something went wrong.

Besides that Harry tried to find more information about the man who managed to return from the ruins, but for now, Harry didn't have any success. It was either people who didn't know anything about him or people who didn't want to speak to a foreigner. Harry could respect that, but it was getting annoying. The wizard only wanted to find out the man's name and after a week, he didn't even have that.

That was why Harry decided on a different approach. He started doing small jobs around the city to get the people familiar with him. Maybe then they would be more eager to speak about things like that with an unknown kid. Of course, that also meant that if anything went wrong in the future, Harry would need to get the hell away from Leng Ma. Unfortunately, this was Harry's only idea for now.

Luckily the city was huge and Harry was quite sure that there were at least a couple million people living here, so one kid would hopefully go unnoticed. With a bit of illusion magic, Harry made his face look a bit closer to the inhabitants of the island, but with the wizard's skill in the illusion, it wasn't much. Plus keeping the constant drain of magic wasn't too nice, especially when Harry needed to do some physical work.

Apart from that Harry focused on his training when the time allowed.

The healing magic mostly stopped progressing as Harry needed something to practice on and he is not mad enough to harm himself yet. Still, Harry's current situation was a lot better than earlier and he really would love to have had these abilities when Harry stormed the House of the Undying.

The other aspect that Harry focused on was finally providing some results. Thanks to observing more guards fight each other, Harry managed to find out a few things about how they used their magic. It looked like they could somehow command their magic to boost certain parts of their body. Harry didn't know if they could boost their whole body at the same time to gain even more speed and strength, but this was what Harry wanted to do in the end.

For now, it was really hard to even make his magic stay in one place in Harry's body and then focus it on boosting its capabilities. The only thing Harry managed, for now, was making his fist a bit more durable when he punched something. Not quite what Harry wanted, but it was a start.

Of course with Harry's focus on finding more information about the man from the ruins, he didn't have as much time to train as he would want. There was also another thing that put a time limit on Harry's mission to find the man.

About two weeks ago when Harry arrived in Leng Ma, he managed to find out that the current God-Empress will celebrate her birthday in about two months' time. At first, Harry didn't care too much as it didn't change anything in his plans, but then Harry decided to find out more about the festivity.

It turned out that the birthday was one big festival that lasted for five days. That was when Harry decided that there wouldn't be any better occasion to sneak into the second part of the city where the lone survivor of the ruins probably lived.

So now Harry had a bit more than a month to figure out where the man lived and then find a way in and out without alerting anyone. The festival would hopefully help Harry with avoiding most of the guards that Harry saw on the walls which led to the second part of the city.

* * *

**A Few weeks later**

Life in Leng Ma was a lot different than in any of the cities that Harry visited previously. People here were happier, more content with their lives. Even the low lives looked a lot better and slavery was not a thing in Leng.

Really, if someday Harry wanted a place to settle in, Leng Ma would be the first one on the list. The things were quite cheap and during his stay here Harry never had any problems with people. Well, almost but those incidents were very rare. Still, even if the place was nice, Harry still had a lot of the world to explore and thoughts like that would need to wait at least a few years.

During those few weeks, Harry finally managed to find out the name of the survivor.

Harero Orlerion, currently a very rich merchant living in the higher region of the second section of the city. Fortunately, the man was well known and liked through the city and he hired many people for his business. Harry even worked for him a few times without knowing. It was quite embarrassing when Harry finally discovered the man's name.

Thankfully Harry still had one more week left before the festival and even now the city was buzzing with excitement. Everybody was even more lively and the number of people running around the city was amazing. Never in his life, Harry saw something like this and here Harry thought that the single day of festivities after the defeat of Voldemort was big.

Now though, Harry finally had the name and he did everything he could to get every small job the man gave. To this day Harry never managed to get into the second part of the city, but he had a few ideas of how to do it during the festival. But before that Harry needed the location of Harero's house.

That was why when Harry heard that the man was hiring people to help with moving a lot of things towards the house in the higher section, he carefully managed to get a place in the group of hired people. Thankfully Harry's cover worked quite well and no one knew how he really looked. That was good as knowing Harry's luck, something would definitely go wrong sooner or later.

The job was to happen tomorrow so Harry had the rest of the day free to do whatever he wanted.

First, he needed to finally get some better quality clothes and then engrave runes on them. If he managed to do all of this today, then Harry would be able to go and scout a few more places that could be the entrances to the second part of the city.

The task of finding new clothes wasn't too hard. Harry managed to find a merchant who sold all kinds of clothes made of higher quality leather. Those things could be easily engraved with runes and Harry could say that even though he was only twelve, he looked good in them. Of course, he would need to change the armor when he outgrew it, at least until Harry managed to find a way to recreate the resizing enchantment.

The engraving of runes took a bit more time, but by the time Harry finished, he still had a few hours to scout the places and maybe train a bit. After Harry checked those places to see if they would be of any use, he was glad that one of them could be used as a plan B if the initial plan didn't work out.

With that done Harry decided to finish for the day and get some rest. He needed to be fully rested tomorrow as he didn't want to miss anything of importance.

* * *

The next day came fast and Harry quickly dressed in some of his more casual clothes as it would be a bit suspicious if he came dressed in full armor. Then Harry went to the meeting site where all of the hired workers would gather and wait for the next instructions.

He and about twenty other people waited for about half an hour before a fancy dressed man came and told them to follow. After another few minutes of walking, they came upon a small warehouse. The man then instructed them to take every crate out of it and put them on the wagons waiting before the building.

It was a slow and daunting task that took them a few hours, but when they finally finished, the man told them to get onto another wagon and wait until they got to Harero's house.

They rode through almost the entire lower district of the city before they came upon the main gate leading to the higher section. There, everyone was checked for weapons or any other contraband. Harry didn't know what counted towards this, but thankfully they didn't find anything on him.

"Alright everyone is clear, get back on the wagon, we have another ten minutes of a ride before us," called out the fancy clothed man.

They did as they were told and this time when they started moving, Harry began his observation. Everything was important, the layout, how many people were on the streets, how many guards are patrolling the streets, or if there are any places to hide if something went wrong.

It was not as bad as Harry feared, while the guards were better equipped than in the lower district and had stronger magic, there were a lot fewer of them so Harry counted this as a win. The basic layout was already forming in Harry's mind, but he would need to go through it later with the help of occlumency. Harry tried to find a map of the entire city earlier, but it looked like people from the higher district didn't like it when somebody knew how they lived. A minor setback but nothing too bad.

It shouldn't be too hard to sneak in during the festival, but Harry knew that nothing ever was easy.

When they finally arrived at the merchant's house Harry was quite surprised that even though the building was big, it had quite a modest look to it. It was a simple two-story house mode out of some kind of white stone. Still, Harry thought that it looked nice.

"Everybody out. Grab the crates and bring them to the back of the house. And don't even think of sneaking away, there will always be someone watching you. Now get to work," the man shouted again. Harry was beginning to dislike the man and he was quite sure that no guards would be able to stop him from sneaking away.

Still, it was not the time for it, for now, Harry almost had everything he wanted. It would be nice to be able to get inside the house to get a layout of it, but it was not necessary. He should have enough time during the festival to search through most of the building.

The work went for another two hours and during this time Harry mostly paid attention to the guards stationed around the house. He only counted four, but who knew if there wasn't more inside. If not, then getting inside shouldn't be too hard. The biggest problem would be getting through the walls to the second district as the gates were a big no.

Harry also hoped that maybe Harero would show himself so Harry would be able to identify the man in the future if needed, but unfortunately he had no such luck. Still, Harry had all he wanted and now the only thing left was to wait for the festival to start.

* * *

**Week later**

The festival started yesterday and let's just say that Harry was overwhelmed. The number of people, the decorations, the noise, they even had something similar to fireworks. Not as good as in Harry's old world, but they still added something wonderful to the event.

Even then it was not the biggest surprise that Harry encountered during the first day of the festival. Harry thought that even though the whole event was about the God-Empress, she wouldn't show herself to the common people. But to Harry's surprise, the Empress led a parade through the biggest streets of the lower section of Leng Ma. Of course, she was escorted by at least a few thousands of soldiers and her both husbands, but it was still surprising to see a ruler, who was viewed as a God, to come down from her palace and walk with the common folk.

Khaira the Second, named after Khaira the Great, was a woman who definitely didn't look like a fifty-year-old woman. No, if Harry had to guess just from looking at her, he would say that she was at best in her mid-thirties. Khaira was a stunningly beautiful Lengii with almond-shaped green eyes, long raven-black hair, and tawny skin. She was probably about 6 foot high like most of the Lengii woman population. Really, Harry never felt so small in his life. The people in Leng were just so huge.

The parade went without any problems and Harry enjoyed one day of relaxation. At first, the wizard wanted to strike as fast as he could, but Harry decided to wait one day so more people would join the festival. The fewer people in the second district, the better for Harry.

Now though it was time to act. During his last few days before the festival, Harry finally decided on the spot where he would enter the second district. He would really prefer to be just able to enter through the gates, but even during the festival, the number of guards was the same. So dressed in his new armor and equipped in only his short-sword, a few pouches and a small bag that carried a very long rope, Harry was ready.

The walk to the chosen place only took a few minutes and before Harry knew, he was standing before the 25-foot wall. Harry had chosen this spot because no one really walked around here and the guards on the wall only come here once every hour. It was a major gap in the defense, but who was Harry to point it out.

Now Harry thought about many possibilities of how to get on the wall and he only came up with one that would work without alerting the guards. He would scale the wall with the use of ice magic and the cracks that were already there. That was another reason why Harry chose this place, the number of cracks made the climb almost too easy with Harry's magic. It would be even easier if Harry could finally use his animagus transformation, but he still had a few problems.

Harry even thought about making some kind of gloves that would work like the spiderman from the comics in his old world, but creating a rune matrix would be too time-consuming. Unfortunately, Harry never tried to replicate the sticking charm and a week was definitely not enough time. He really needed more utility spells now that he got some progress on the physical aspect of magic.

Throwing those thoughts out of his head Harry sighed and approached the wall. It was mostly dark so no one would be able to see him and Harry already made a few test-runs earlier, so he knew that the climb was definitely possible.

Grabbing onto the first crack Harry took the first steps towards the top. It really wasn't hard, between the cracks, ice magic and boosting his strength a bit, Harry managed to get on top in two minutes of careful climbing. He still had about thirty minutes before another guard would come through this side of the wall so Harry quickly found one of the ladders that led down the wall.

After getting down Harry had to quickly hide in the shadows as one of the patrols passed him. Now came the second hardest part of Harry's plan, to stealthily make his way through the entire second district. Harry would be lying if he said that he wasn't even a bit nervous, but after facing Voldemort and dying, there wasn't much that could scare him.

The way to Harero's house wasn't as hard as Harry thought it would be. Most people were enjoying the festival and the guards surprisingly were more relaxed. Guess they didn't expect anyone to try and sneak into the second district. Not that Harry didn't understand this as there wasn't much to do there. Really only thieves or assassins would try what Harry was doing and the former could earn much more in the lower district without the high risk of getting into the second district.

Finally, Harry arrived before Harero's house and sighed in relief as he saw only two guards before the entrance. It would help a lot as Harry really didn't want to dodge ten or more guards. There still should be a few of them inside, but those Harry would either pass or knock out. Harry would prefer to just pass by every guard as he didn't know the schedule of the guard change, but if it came to it, Harry would act.

Getting inside the building was a bit tricker as the only, not guarded entrances were the windows on the second floor. Thankfully thanks to Harry's previous scaling of the wall, he quickly used the experience and some ice magic to make his way in.

Surprisingly the inside of the building was quite modest just like the outside. Harry always liked simple things so his respect for Harero rose a bit.

Next came the harder part. Harry needed to find either Harero's office or bedroom. If there was any place that the wizard would find what he was looking for, then that would be it. Harry just hoped that at least this one time luck would be on his side.

The corridors on the second floor were totally dark and Harry had some problems moving through them. The wizard could use magic to create a small light for him, but that would defeat the purpose of being stealthy. On the bright side, the lack of light meant that the guards were only below him so with a bit of luck Harry wouldn't even need to go downstairs.

Finally, Harry managed to find the room he was looking for. It was a small chamber with a big desk, a chair, and two bookshelves on either side of the room. Harry knew that time was the essence, so he quickly began searching through the desk. What Harry was doing, might not have been morally good, but Harry wouldn't take anything that he didn't need, and ever since the wizard came to this world his morals were becoming more and more skewed.

Going back to the task Harry searched through every book he saw for any keywords he prepared. Harry obviously didn't know the language of Lengii perfectly, so keywords like ruins, expedition, madness, and the like would need to be enough.

In the end, Harry managed to find a small book in which, from what Harry could understand, described were the most important events from Harero's life. Harry quickly skimmed through the book and found what he was looking for. The date was correct and Harry already saw a few words mentioning ruins and magic.

Satisfied Harry closed the book and hid it inside his armor. Now he just needed to quietly escape and then translate the rest of the book.

The whole mission turned out to be much easier than Harry thought. His way back was even faster than in and after another hour Harry was back in his room in the inn. Now, all that left was translation and preparation.

Harry groaned at the thought, really he could think of a lot of different activities than translating a god damned book. The wizard just assumed that it was the consequence of his mission going without a single problem.

With another sigh, Harry began his work.

* * *

It took Harry most of the night to complete the translation, but he did it. While the book was full of information, Harry feared that it wouldn't be enough.

From what Harry gathered from the book, Harero was quite lucky to escape. The book spoke of an ominous presence in the underground that made all of the soldiers there unfocused and scared. Harero possessed stronger magic than most so he could resist whatever was causing the effect better. Harry would need to be careful as he was sure that some kind of ancient ward was the cause.

It also explained why some people were told to return mad as they just couldn't resist them. Thankfully Harry could feel the magic around him much better than any of the soldiers here, so he shouldn't have any problems with destroying or resisting the wards.

Unfortunately, this wasn't the biggest problem that Harry found in the book. No, from what Harry read, Harero and the soldiers encountered something akin to stone golems. Harero described them as animals made from stone and this made Harry a bit wary. He didn't really have anything that could defeat an opponent completely made out of stone.

Yes, he could use the inscribed pieces of dragonglass that acted as a grenade, but he couldn't just go in with only that. It would be suicide.

Before Harry would go to the ruins, he would need to recreate at least the bombarda spell, reductor curse or somehow make his sword capable of cutting through stone without any problems.

Harry already could imagine the number of times he would almost blow himself up when he would work on those spells. He just couldn't wait.

Hopefully, those spells would be enough to get through those golems and whatever was after them. Knowing Harry's luck it wouldn't, but that was why he decided to spend the next few months on preparations and training. No way that Harry would go unprepared again.

Sighing Harry gathered all his things and checked out of the inn. He would travel to the nearest village that was closer to some ruins and stay there for the time being. He would have a lot more freedom there and the opportunity to scout the ruins.

* * *

**Three months later**

Time quickly went by as Harry prepared for his journey inside the ruins. Most of the days were spent training his magic or trying to recreate new spells that would be useful. From time to time Harry also went to the nearest ruins to get familiar with the place and work out the way into the underground.

While it wasn't easy with the big amount of guards around the ruins, Harry managed to find a safe way inside. Even at the entrance Harry already could feel the presence of the ancient ward. While the wizard didn't really know how to disable it, Harry found out that thanks to his occlumency and stronger magic, he could easily handle them. It was a bit annoying to feel the ominous presence in the back of his mind, but Harry dealt with worse when he was near dementors.

With the ruins scouted out, Harry could fully focus on his training. At first, he worked on recreating the two spells he wanted.

The bombarda spell surprisingly was quite easy to recreate. The only difficulty was focusing the spell in a small ray of light that would explode on impact. The result was a lot stronger than Harry expected as the explosion from a weakly powered bombarda was almost the same as when Harry had a wand. It looked like the wilder magic made the spell more powerful, even if it was harder to cast.

The reductor curse was harder to recreate but after a few weeks of work, Harry managed to cast the spell successfully. At first, the spell could only destroy a small pebble, but now if Harry put enough power into it, he could destroy a stone about half of Harry's height. Harry didn't know how well the spell would work on the golems as they should be at last a bit resistant to magic, but any help was welcome.

Of course, those spells were not all that Harry worked on. He also worked on his swordsmanship, strengthening his fire and ice magic and animagus transformation. Who knew how much elemental magic would affect whatever enemy was inside the ruins and even though the transformation wasn't quite ready Harry hoped to spend a few more days on practicing it after he came back from the ruins.

Besides normal magic Harry also worked on making his physical magic stronger. Now he could boost both his speed and strength a bit. Maybe it wasn't much but it would make fights with older and stronger opponents much easier. Hopefully, with time Harry would develop this aspect of magic further and make himself even stronger and faster. It would be useful as this one branch of magic that was very easy to hide. Apart from that, it was good to train Harry's control of magic and the wizard knew that if he wanted to use transfiguration later on then the additional control would be needed.

Now though it was time to finally go into the ruins and enter the underground.

Harry equipped his leather armor and strapped both his swords. Blackfyre on his back and the obsidian short-sword to his hip. He also had a few pouches strapped to his belt. They mostly contained different types of runic bombs made out of dragonglass but some also had medical supplies and food in them.

He also had one medium-sized bag strapped over the scabbard of Blackfyre. It didn't contain anything as Harry planned to put in it anything that he would find inside.

Finally ready, Harry began his trek towards the ruins. It wasn't that far from the village Harry lived in, but before he arrived it was almost dark. From there Harry just needed to avoid the few guards and make his way to the entrance that he found.

The entrance wasn't anything special, just a simple stairway down to the underground. Knowing that he wouldn't be able to see anything inside the ruins, Harry pulled out a small piece of obsidian and channeled a bit of magic into it.

The stone shined with light and Harry nodded in approval. It should be enough to act as a light inside as Harry wanted to have both his hands free to fight.

With that done, Harry put the stone inside a small space on the chest plate of his armor so he wouldn't have to carry it. With the light, ready Harry slowly made his way down the stairs.

The walk down took about a minute and Harry reappeared in a quite big tunnel that led in three different directions. Knowing that it would be easy to lose his way inside the labyrinth, Harry summoned his fire and burned out a medium-sized arrow with the number one next to it on the floor of the tunnel. They would act as a reminder, so Harry could safely get out of the underground.

Nodding to himself Harry chose the right corridor and walked forward. For now, it was peaceful, but Harry knew that there was no way that nothing would attack him in there. He wasn't that lucky.

And right he was as the moment Harry walked into one of the bigger rooms of the labyrinth, two boar-like creatures made out of stone rushed at him.

Their attacks were easy to dodge and Harry could see that they didn't have the best movement capabilities. Normally Harry would defeat those golems as fast as he could, but he wanted to test a few things out before he took them out.

First Harry reached out with his magic to check what those things exactly were.

Just like he thought the boars were simple constructs of magic and Harry could feel a small trail of magic that probably led towards the creator of those things. That would be useful as Harry wanted to find out what was going on here.

Next, Harry used a few more simple spells like banishing charms, ice arrows, and low powered bombarda spells. He wanted to see how much resistance to magic those things had.

The banishment charm only moved one of the boars a few inches back, but the ice arrow managed to bury itself halfway into the stone construct. That surprised Harry a bit but also gave him a few ideas if he had to face a stronger opponent. Next, the bombarda spell managed to destroy a bit of the stone boar, but it didn't look like it would stop attacking Harry any time soon.

Now that Harry knew a bit more about his enemies he dodged another attack from the boars and aimed a few small powered bombarda at their legs. The effect was instantaneous and the constructs fell on the floor without the ability to move.

Just when Harry wanted to finish the golems with the reductor curse, the stone boars fell apart and any traces of magic left them.

Blinking a few times, Harry raised an eyebrow in surprise, "Alright, that's new. Either the golems were enchanted to fall apart when defeated or the caster stopped supplying magic to them. If it is the latter then my position is already compromised... oh well, not that I haven't expected it."

Shrugging Harry created another arrow and number before going in the direction that he felt the magic coming from.

It was a few hours later that Harry arrived in another bigger chamber. On his way there he defeated a few more of those golems. They took different appearances, be it a dog, wolf, boar, or even something bigger like bears. The last type of enemy was a bit trickier to defeat as they were a lot more resistant to Harry's magic.

Now though Harry was tired of the constant use of magic and he needed to rest. The room was clear and if Harry the wards stones around the room he should be able to get a few hours of sleep.

So without any further delay, Harry deployed his ward stones and laid down on his bag.

Harry didn't know how much time passed, but he got woken up by his wards just in time to dodge a swipe from a big scorpion's claw. Harry quickly ran the other side of the room and took a look at his new enemy.

All in all, it was a big scorpion made of stone. It was at least three feet taller than Harry and its tail was almost as long as the room he was in.

Harry cursed under his breath, of course, he would have to fight a big-ass scorpion. Sighing, Harry unsheathed Blackfyre from his back and took a stance. Hopefully, the valyrian sword's additional cutting power would be enough to get through the stone.

With that said Harry dodged the scorpion's tail and fired a reductor curse at one of its legs.

The leg took the hit but it didn't fall apart as Harry expected. Instead, the leg lost some of its density but overall it still worked. Cursing again Harry created a wall of ice just in time to stop another attack from the scorpion's claw.

Thankfully the ice held and gave Harry enough time to relocate to another side of the room. There Harry took out a few dragonglass stones and after channeling a bit of magic into them, he threw the obsidian at the scorpion.

The stones exploded upon impact and destroyed one of the scorpion's claws and a good chunk of its body. Grinning Harry rolled out of the strike of its tail and ran at the scorpion with Blackfyre.

Deciding to not push his luck, Harry began to channel magic through his body thus boosting his speed and strength a bit. Then with a mighty swing, Harry brought his sword down at one of the scorpion's legs and cut it off. If Harry was surprised that the sword cut through the stone so easily, he didn't show it as the scorpion used its body to try and crush Harry.

Knowing that there was no way that he would survive something like this Harry jumped away from the scorpion with all of his strength.

Sighing in relief Harry sheathed Blackfyre and fired a few reductors and bombarda at the scorpion. This time Harry managed to destroy another two of its legs and the scorpion fell on the floor as it couldn't support its weight anymore.

Harry used this to his advantage and with the use of another few runic bombs the scorpion was completely destroyed.

Going to his resting place, Harry sat down and laughed lightly, "Giant snakes, spiders, and now scorpions. I wonder what is next. Bloody hell, I just can't catch a break. Well, at least it is not boring."

With another laugh, Harry pulled out a canteen with water and took a sip. The fight exhausted Harry a bit and even though his reserves of magic were quite big, the reductor curses and bombarda were costly and tiring. That was why Harry didn't just bombard the scorpion with spells to destroy it completely. It would just tire Harry out.

Harry's magic would still take a few years to develop fully, so for now he couldn't throw spells left and right. Well apart from the fire magic as this specific aspect came too naturally to him. He really needed to someday travel to Valyria and discover why he could use fire magic like that.

Harry shook his head to clear it from those thoughts, it was not the time for it. He would rest for another half an hour and then follow the trail of magic that the scorpion left.

The wizard did just that, and before he knew it was time to move. He created another arrow on the floor and began walking.

He didn't know how long he walked, but after what felt like hours Harry arrived in the biggest room yet. This one was illuminated with the use of stones akin to the one Harry used. Still, the most important part of the room was the big iron door that was at least 10 feet wide and 12 feet high.

Just when Harry wanted to walk towards the door and examine it, a glowing light came through the door like it wasn't even there.

"So, you are the magician that managed to find his way to the Vault of the Old Ones? Hmm, it doesn't matter. Now prepare to fight for your life sorcerer."


	11. Together we are one

**Chapter 11. Together we are one**

* * *

_"Mother why!" I shouted in despair, "You told me that you would never leave me!"_

_"I am sorry my son, we are losing the war and some sacrifices had to be made," she responded with tears in her eyes. She really was in pain, but I didn't care. My own mother was giving me away, a nine-year-old boy._

_"I don't care! I hate you!" she flinched from my shout and her eyes released a few more tears._

_ Unfortunately, I didn't care anymore._

* * *

_"You were all collected here to become our most powerful warriors. Those that don't feel fear and pain, who will fight until they die and who will do anything in our Gods' names," A large man spoke to us as we all were gathered in a quite large chamber in one of the jungle Temples built for our Gods. _

_After my mother gave me away I was taken away by soldiers and they took me to this place where a large group of kids was gathered. We waited here for a few hours before the man finally came and began explaining why we were here._

_"Our most powerful mages and alchemists worked hard to prepare methods that will make you stronger, faster, and smarter than our enemies. You will do what you are told or you will feel my wrath. Am I understood?" he shouted at the end and only a few of us answered in a murmur._

_The man was definitely not satisfied as in the next second we all felt a wave of powerful magic go over us, "You may be kids, but now you are part of our army. So I ask one more time am I understood?"_

_"Yes!" this time almost every one of us shouted out in pure fear. As the man said, we may be kids, but we didn't want to die like a lot of our island's populace._

* * *

_"General," I heard one of the main mages of the temple say as I laid down on the coat pretending to be unconscious, "This is the only boy that survived our rituals and potions." _

_"So this entire project was one waste of time? That's what you are trying to tell me?!" another man, the General probably, shouted at the mage, "We spent three years training those kids, three years and you are telling me that only one of them survived the final test?!"_

_"I am really sorry General, but it really could go worse," the mage instantly flinched as the General punched the wall next to my bed._

_"Really? Please tell me oh powerful Mage, how could this get any worse?" questioned the General with barely restrained anger in his voice._

_"The boy survived. From what we gathered his body is a lot stronger and his magic... It is so powerful. The boy possesses two times more magic than the Prime Sorcerer. He would be a force to be reckoned with on the battlefield," explained the mage in a shaky voice._

_So whatever they did to me during those last few days worked? I didn't know if I should be glad or angry. Those past few years were torture. They didn't care how old we were, we all trained from sunrise to noon. Physical, magical, or weapon training you name it. Some of the kids died from the strain, some gave up and were killed, but I always pushed forward in hopes that someday I would be free._

_And now I was the last one. The result of various magic rituals and potions that they forced down my throat. Still, the mage was right, I felt stronger and I could contact my magic a lot better than I could ever before._

_"Two times the Prime Sorcerer you say? Alright, I give you two more years to prepare the boy before we send him to the frontlines. Now get to work, I will be back in a year to check on the progress," with that I heard the man walk away and only me and the mage were left in the room._

_"You better not disappoint me, boy," the man snarled before he too walked away._

_'Oh, I won't, you can be sure about it.'_

* * *

_"Do you know who I am boy?" the same voice from the year before asked._

_"Yes sir, you are the General of the royal army," I answered as politely as I could._

_"I saw your progress and if you keep it up, we will deploy you in a year. You will show those idiots that the Empire of Leng won't fall."_

_'Like hell, I will. The moment you let me out from this underground I will finally be free. No more training, no more fighting. Finally, I will be able to live my life for myself.'_

_"Understood sir," I again replied like the obedient weapon I was supposed to be._

* * *

_"Put him in the middle of the circle!" the main mage of the temple shouted at four of the acolytes that were pulling me through the Temple's underground. I didn't know what was happening, but I was awoken in the middle of the night and then bound in special runic chains. They drained any magic the bounded person possessed and made them no stronger than a civilian._

_I really didn't know why they would do such a thing. I always did as I was told and behaved like they wanted me to. In about two months I was supposed to be sent on the battlefield and now I was bound in chains._

_I could only ask, "Why?"_

_The main mage signaled for the acolytes to leave the room and he himself sat down on the ground with a heavy sigh. _

_"It is over boy. We lost the war. As we speak the enemy forces are moving in our direction and nothing can stop them. The General and Prime Sorcerer are dead and with their death, our army lost most of its morales. Our Empress has locked herself in the Royal Palace and refuses to help her people," the mage released a bitter chuckle as he paused._

_"It is like the Old Ones left us to die. Our High Priests can no longer hear their whispers so what else can it mean. We lost."_

_I snarled. I didn't care that we lost, I didn't care about Old Ones and sure as hell, I didn't care that those fuckers who put me through all of this torture would soon die. What I did care about was my freedom. _

_"I don't care you stupid shit. If we will all die then why I am chained in the middle of a ritual circle," I shouted with all the strength I had left._

_The mage chuckled and got up. He then waved his hand a few times and a few items I barely recognized flew into his hand. _

_"The reason is quite simple. Some of us might die or some will survive, but there is one certain thing that will happen after Leng is defeated. All of our knowledge of magic will be lost. Our enemies won't let us keep it. No, they fear it too much," the mage again paused as he prepared the next parts of the ritual.  
_

_"But that's where you come in. You will be the guardian of The Vault of the Old Ones. We will leave our knowledge here and soon Leng will raise up again. "_

_I looked at him _ _in disbelief, "Are you mad? How do you expect me to survive in a closed Vault without food and water? I will die in a month!"_

_The man shook his head rapidly and I hoped that maybe his head would fall off, "No, no, no. You won't die at least not that soon. You see, this Vault is a sacred place. I am sure you can feel how much ambient magic is around us. This magic and the ritual will keep you alive long enough to wait for the next Lengii that will find this place. It may take a decade or two, but there should be enough magic for it to work."_

_I laughed in response, there was no way for such a thing to work. Magic didn't work like that, it couldn't keep me healthy for twenty years without food or water. The man must have gone mad in grief._

_From there I didn't listen or watch what the madman was doing. I was dead either way. The ritual would probably backfire and kill us both. I could only kneel there and watch as the last minutes of my life passed._

_When the man finally completed all of the preparations he channeled all of his magic into the ritual circle and then the light consumed us._

* * *

_It had been what? Five years? Ten? I stopped counting after the first year._

_The madman's ritual was somehow successful. He died as I expected, but me? No, I survived, if you could call that surviving. _

_I didn't know how long I was knocked out, but when I woke up the Vault was shrouded in darkness. A quick summoning of light dealt with that problem and I could see again. _

_Unfortunately, the only thing I could see was the charred skeleton of the mage, some destroyed books, and my weapon that laid a few feet away from me. It was a short-sword made out of a mixture of a few different materials. One of the best-crafted swords in Leng and one of the few weapons that could withstand getting magic channeled through them._

_The mage used it during the ritual, but I had no clue why would my weapon be useful in such delicate magic art. The reason became quite obvious when I touched it. _

_The mage used it a focus. A focus to which I would be bound and a focus that would absorb the magic in the Vault and then feed it to me. If I wasn't so mad at what the mage had done to me I would applaud him for his ingenuity. He really achieved what he wanted. I would only die when the magic in the Vault ended or maybe if I decided to commit suicide._

_Not that I would ever do such a thing. I was still alive and there was a chance to get out and be free. After that, I could live without any problems with how my body now worked. The only problem was getting out of this sealed room. The magic in the room could support me for more than two decades if I used magic sparely, but with my own reserves, I could prolong this process. _

_Maybe not for long as the constant drain was quite big, but my own reserves would let me use magic without the fear of dying faster._

_Unfortunately in the next years, I realized that there was no way for me to pick up the short-sword and move out from the Vault. Yes, I could send my magic golems into the Temple's labyrinth, but I couldn't leave farther than two rooms away from the sword. _

_For years I tried to move it. Magic, golems, physical strength and even throwing rocks at it. Nothing worked. Now after all those years I felt that the magic in the maze and Vault was not enough to keep me alive. I used too much magic and neither the ambient magic nor my vast reserves could save me._

_It was with a bitter smile that I sat down and for the first time in many years prayed to the Old Ones. People did weird things when faced with death, so I could try for the last time and ask for the freedom that I always wanted._

* * *

_I probably should have never prayed to them. _

_They changed me. Completely changed my being. I didn't know why they would do such a thing, but in the beginning, I was glad. I was still alive and I could get my freedom once more._

_Like always I was wrong. I was still bound to the sword and I still couldn't move it even though the weapon no longer feed me magic. Now my own body fed off the magic around me if I could even call it a body. I looked more like a construct of pure magic that resembled a human form. It gave me some new abilities, but it also took away the part of me that was still human._

_From that moment I cursed the Old Ones. They left me here when they could free me. My favorite weapon became the bane of my existence. _

_Again the years passed and I began to remember that maybe someday, someone would finally be able to get to the Vault and free me from my curse. And happened it did._

_People came down into the undergrounds of the Temple in search of anything left after a dead civilization. Unfortunately, most of them died before they even managed to get close to me. Sometimes they died from traps left behind by the mages of the temple and other times my own stone golems would kill them. If they were weak enough to die from some magic golems then there was no way that they would be powerful enough to free me._

_Another thing that got rid of many explorers was the ward of madness. I didn't know who created it but it was a nice test for anybody entering the maze. _

_Centuries went by and no one ever managed to get even halfway to the Vault. That was until the boy entered the Temple._

_I observed him through my golems and the boy was strong, he was prepared for my minions and defeated them without bigger problems. Then I tried to feel his magic and I was left surprised. His magic was much different than any I came upon during those centuries. It was strong and quite well controlled. _

_Taking under the consideration that in the last few hundred years any mage that went into the maze was quite weak, I couldn't help but feel at least some excitement when he finally reached the entrance to the Vault._

* * *

"So, you are the magician that managed to find his way to the Vault of the Old Ones? Hmm, it doesn't matter. Now prepare to fight for your life sorcerer."

That was the last thing that Harry heard before he needed to erect a shield of pure magic to save him from a powerful blast of energy sent at him by his new enemy.

The shield managed to hold and Harry could finally see who he was fighting.

It was a man, or a least Harry thought that it was a male. Almost like in Stygai the new adversary didn't possess a body made out of flesh like a normal human but was rather made out of pure magic. Well, the magic wasn't too pure as Harry could feel the darkness in it, but it was still a construct created by magic.

The man was an adult and was of average height. His whole form was of a dark blue color, but Harry could still see that somehow the man was wearing armor. He probably had it on at the moment he became whatever he was. Apart from that, the man was quite plain and if Harry had more time he might have tried to see more.

Unfortunately, this wasn't the case and it was obvious that the being wouldn't stop attacking Harry until he was defeated. Still, Harry being Harry had to try, "So I guess there is no way to avoid this fight?"

The only response was another wave of energy that Harry blocked with another barrier. He would really need to work on some better way of shielding from pure magic attacks, this thing was just too taxing on his reserves.

Unfortunately, this was not the time for such thoughts as the man, or whatever the being was, summoned two dogs made entirely out of stone.

_"So he is the one responsible for all of those golems I encountered huh? Oh well, no reason to hold back anymore," _with that thought Harry took out another two dragonglass stones and threw them with a perfect aim at the dogs.

Like expected the two dogs exploded upon impact and Harry used the dust from the explosion to unsheath Blackfyre and channel magic through his body. With the additional boost to his strength and speed, Harry hoped to surprise his enemy and maybe score the first hit.

The man saw through Harry's trick and summoned a sword made out of stone to his hand.

Surprisingly the stone sword managed to block the Valytian steel but it was evident that it would crack if it took another hit or two. Harry saw a slight surprise on the man's face and decided to use it to his advantage.

While Blackfyre was still a bit too big for Harry, the wizard was still capable of wielding it properly. The man obviously didn't expect Harry to possess a weapon of such power as he separated himself from Harry by summoning a small wall of stone after his sword broke.

Harry knew that he had the advantage in close quarters so he used a low powered bombarda to blow the wall away. This time the man was ready and had a stone sword in each hand.

Harry pressed onward trying to shatter his enemy's swords and score a hit. Unfortunately, it quickly became evident that the man worked out a tactic to stop Harry from gaining an advantage with his Valyrian weapon. Whenever Harry managed to destroy one sword, the man quickly used his other one to block and in this time he would summon the lost sword back.

Luckily it appeared that even though the man was quite skilled in sword fighting it was neither his preferred style nor the weapons were his favorites. Apart from that Harry could feel that the man was quite rusty when it came to swordplay and the young wizard would definitely use it to his advantage.

For the few next minutes, the two exchanged strikes back and forth without scoring any hits. Finally, Harry decided to stop using only his reinforcement magic and try to apply his other tricks to the fight.

Harry waited for a good moment before he released a torrent of fire at the man and then followed with a few exploding stones. His enemy reacted quickly as he summoned another stone wall to block the fire and then he reinforced it with his magic to stop the wall from exploding.

"So you finally decided to use your magic hmm? That's good, show me your real power," the man's hard voice came out from behind the wall.

In the next second, Harry was forced to create his own wall of ice to shield from numerous earth projectiles that the man created from his wall. If Harry wasn't sure that the man was trying to kill him earlier, now he was convinced.

His earth projectiles managed to destroy Harry's wall quite quickly so he was forced to dodge and shield himself with some minor barriers. Now while Harry was quite proud of his reflexes as an ex-seeker, even he couldn't avoid dozens of stones directed at him. So when one of the bigger chunks managed to hit his right shoulder Harry felt it even through his enhanced armor and the pain forced him to drop Blackfyre to the ground.

Annoyed that he lost his primary weapon, Harry created another wall of ice and unsheathed his black short-sword. It would need to be enough until he managed to pick up Blackfyre.

"Stop holding back boy or I _will_ kill you!" the man's shout echoed through the chamber.

Harry gritted his teeth in silent anger. It was easy to say to go full power when you were surrounded by your enemy's element. Yes, Harry's fire was strong but its power against a powerful user of earth element was nulled out. Then he had his ice magic and while Harry could match the enemy sorcerer for some time, Harry would get tired faster as he needed to summon his element while the enemy mage used his surroundings.

Quickly forming a plan Harry disintegrated the ice wall and formed it into numerous smaller spears. Then Harry threw them all in the direction of his enemy. With the distraction, ready Harry fished out a handful of his grenades and two flash stones.

First, he hurled one of the flashbangs at the man. The older sorcerer clearly expected another explosion as he erected a barrier of pure magic to stop the stone. When the flash of light temporarily blinded him, Harry threw the grenades all over the room but he didn't activate them.

When the man finally regained his sight, he another two smaller golems and sent them straight at Harry. This time though he didn't just stay idle and stomped the ground a few times. To Harry's further aggravation, the man's stomps summoned pillars of earth that followed Harry wherever he went.

"Just fucking great..." murmured Harry as he fired two bombardas at the pillars and sliced through one of the summons with the short-sword. He dealt with the other one by impaling it with an ice spike right through the mouth.

The creatures disintegrated into dust and Harry once again focused on his main enemy that in this short time approached Harry and locked them in another close-quarters duel.

This time they both were using a single short-sword, but Harry's weapon was still the stronger and the older man still needed to summon another after a few hits. Unlike in their previous sword fight, both combatants used their elements to gain an advantage. Harry's fire and ice, and the older man's earth.

While to anyone else it would look like those two were fairly matched, Harry knew that soon his reinforcement magic would be too hard to keep activated and he would lose. That was why Harry slowly tried to create more space between him and the man. When the distance was big enough Harry feinted a strike at the man's left side and then used an overpowered banishing charm to push his enemy even further away.

Harry knew that it was his only opportunity to execute his plan so he quickly jumped back a little, put his short-sword to his left, and then he summoned an enormous amount of fire magic into his hands.

In the next second, Harry put his hands on the ground and mended the fire in the way he wanted his attack to work. It was something that Harry already tried a few times but never on that scale.

Harry smiled slightly and released the magic into the ground. The earth erupted in flames in all directions consuming the whole room, as a chain effect all of the grenades previously threw around the room exploded only adding fuel to the attack.

Like always Harry's luck was not on his side and one of the grenades was close enough to knock him away into one of the walls. Thankfully the wall was already weak enough from all of the previous events and crumbled under the strain of Harry's body and his enchanted armor.

If Harry wasn't in pain from the impact he would realize that the destroyed wall was the entrance to the Vault. Unfortunately, all of his body was in pain, be it from the strain of using too much magic or the impact.

Harry finally came back to the land of the living when he heard his enemy's voice, "I have got to say your last attack was very powerful and if we were in any other place it probably would work. I might hate this place, but it has its advantages..." Only now Harry realized that the language used by the man was very similar to the common one used almost everywhere. It had some small differences but Harry could understand it without bigger problems.

Harry forced himself into a crouching position to at least try and defend from the incoming enemy. Unfortunately, he quickly realized that his short-sword was blew away during the explosion and his magic was almost spent.

"But in the end, our fight came to an end. It is nothing personal boy, you were just not enough..." the man finished in a saddened tone. Harry knew that if there was a moment to act then it was the last one. So with the last of his strength, Harry sent a powerful torrent of fire at the man. Using the distraction Harry rolled to the right and grabbed the weird-looking short-sword that he saw earlier in the Vault.

Just when Harry wanted to stand up and take a stance, the young wizard felt pain like no other in his hand that held the sword. Harry didn't know why but he couldn't drop the sword. Before he knew the pain exploded throughout his whole body and his vision went black.

* * *

When Harry finally woke up he felt like his head would explode any minute. Whatever happened when he grabbed the sword must have messed with him. With a groan, Harry tried to raise up from his lying position only to fail spectacularly when his arms refused to move.

"Easy there kid. Whatever the cursed sword did to you, or rather us, it messed a bit with both your body and magic. You are better off lying down for a bit to regain your strength," a familiar voice spoke from Harry's left side.

The younger boy's eyes instantly snapped open and turned in the voice's direction. And there, on a single block of stone sat the man who got Harry into this mess in the first place. Only this time his form was transparent and his posture seemed somewhat... relaxed, content?

While Harry was still on guard he knew that there was no chance for him to defend himself. So the only thing left was dialogue, "What happened? And most importantly why are you not trying to kill me?" Harry asked in a hoarse tone.

"What happened hmm? A lot of things that shouldn't have. The cursed blade changed us both, I would have never expected that something like this would happen. As to why I am not trying to kill you? That one is easy to answer. I don't want to die," the man answered with a chuckle at the end.

"I don't see it answering anything. So please if you really don't want to kill me then can you at least speak clearly?" Harry groaned in annoyance. His life was just getting weirder and weirder. And he thought that he reached a peak.

The man sighed and ran a hand through his transparent hair, "It is a long story, but seeing as you need to recover we have time... It all started when Leng was attacked by the Golden Empire of Yi Ti, led by Jar Har, the sixth sea-green Emperor..."

The older sorcerer recounted his story, how he was taken away, trained, and then sealed inside the Vault. Harry listened to all of this in rapt attention, he always liked to hear the histories of new places that were not available to everyone. The knowledge that the Old Ones existed was quite disturbing and Harry really wanted to get away from the temple as fast as he could.

Still, there was one thing that Harry was not sure about. Why would his ex-enemy tell him the story of his life? Did he even tell him the truth? And most importantly what did it have to do with their current situation.

Harry voiced his questions when the man finally finished.

He got a chuckle in response before the man continued, "I told you that I was bound to this place because of my cursed blade. When you touched it, something happened to both of us. I can't tell you the details as even I do not know them, but I am no longer bound to my weapon."

Harry nodded at the explanation, but it still didn't answer all of his questions, "So you finally have what you always wanted. Freedom? Is that why you left me alive? And what does it mean for me?"

"Calm down. I might not want to kill you anymore, but I still get annoyed. And to answer your question I didn't get my freedom, at least not completely. You see the moment you touched the blade, the magic that held me bound to it, transferred onto you. I am now bound to you boy, wherever you go I go."

Then the man laughed hard, "And you know what? It is not even the worst part. Before the transfer, I could absorb the magic around me to survive, but now? Now even though I still can gather magic, it all goes to you. Only then some part of it is used to let me exist. So you see, I don't know what would happen if you die. I could either be set free or die with you and I am not eager to find out."

Harry slowly processed what the older man told him and he couldn't help but explode in laughter. He again had another soul bound to him, but this time it was sentient and had its own body._ "Great just great."_

"I see it amuses you. I guess I can see the irony, Harry Potter, the defeater of Voldemort," the man said with a snort.

The single sentence stopped Harry's laughter instantly. The ex-Potter directed a glare at his companion and spoke through gritted teeth, "How do you know that name?"

"Got your attention huh? No need to act so though boy, we are connected now. And when I say connected I **_mean connected," _**he replied neutrally, but when he said the last part Harry instead heard it in his mind.

Harry widened his eyes in surprise. Something like that shouldn't be possible, he had his mental barriers up so nothing should be able to go through, _"But he said that we are now connected through magic, so is it really impossible?"_

**_"It is not,"_ **spoke a voice inside Harry's mind again making him jerk in place, **_"It feels weird, I never really had any encounters with mind magic, so I can't explain to you how it is possible. You are more experienced with this art than me."_**

"Just stop for a minute," Harry said a bit overwhelmed, "If you can see into my mind then you saw my life and how I ended up here. That's how you know my old name. Can I do the same to you?"

"Probably," came out his simple answer, "But I would advise against it. You lived for what, thirty years total? It was easy to sort through those memories so I could see what I got myself into. But I lived for many centuries. Who knows how my mind would look to you."

"Hiding something?" inquired Harry.

The man shrugged, "Plenty of things. Would they be of any use to you? I doubt it, but you are welcome to try."

Harry shook his head, "I am going to refuse your offer," then he paused for a moment, "What will happen now? I can't exactly walk around with ghost-like companion in tow and I doubt that you are alright with what happened here."

The older man sighed heavily, "No I am not alright, but until we find a way to give me the freedom I am stuck with you. I might not be happy, but after so many years of living underground, I am glad that now I will at least see the world again. And don't worry about me walking around. I can go into your body like a summon. This is the manifestation of my body with the use of your magic, that's why I am transparent. You are too weak to give me a full form yet."

"Wouldn't that slow my recovery?"

He shook his head, "Not really. Like I said, I can gather magic, but only when I am out of your body. Right now I am speeding up your recovery by absorbing as much magic as it is possible. I can tell you that it not that much as most of the magic is already drained from those ruins and the natural magic here is really weak. At least ambient magic here is much easier to control..."

Harry nodded in understanding and checked his own magic. It was true he felt the connection he had with his ex-enemy and he felt the magic transfer between the two. His body already felt better and his magic reserves were filling up quicker than usual.

Harry then finally tried to sit up and was glad that his body strength came back. Looking back to his new companion he spoke, "Alright, while it is all weird even to me. I think that there is no point to stay here any longer. I hope you don't mind if I take things from here?"

The man waved him off, "By all means take it all if you can. While the books won't be useful after our battle and all those years of sitting here, the coins should be worth a lot even after all this time. You might also take my old weapon with you. It is no longer cursed and it is a lot more powerful than your own. Well, the short-sword at least."

Harry nodded as he looked at the pile of gold coins in the corner. Yeah, he probably wouldn't have any financial problems in the future. He was a bit sad that all of the books were destroyed, but he had a new companion that probably should be able to teach him some of the things they held inside. Then there was the weapon, the man said that it wasn't cursed anymore, but he would check it himself.

"You know, I might not trust you yet, but we are stuck together, so there is no reason for us to be at each other throats. So as the first sign of trust let's start again. My name is Harry Blackfyre, it is a pleasure to meet you," Harry extended his hand towards the man and waited.

The transparent man looked at the offered hand for a moment before he sighed and smiled lightly, "I guess you are right. Even with our lives connected, it will take time until we trust each other. I might not be happy with our current arrangement, but I can try so we both will survive," they then grabbed each other's forearms, "I was named Ralnor, let us hope that we can work together."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ralnor's character is based on Celebrimbor form Shadow of Mordor. His form will work very similarly, but he will have a bit more freedom to move outside Harry's body. He and Harry are connected by magic untile I decide against it.


	12. Karma is a lovely thing

**Chapter 12. Karma is a lovely thing**

* * *

"It is a pity that almost all of the books were destroyed during your long stay here and those that survived I destroyed with my attack," spoke Harry sadly as he looked at the pile of destroyed books and scrolls.

"True, but from what I saw in your memories, you are already quite a knowledgeable sorcerer. Even the mages of old couldn't do some of the things that you could in your old world," replied his new companion as he searched through the Vault in hopes of finding anything useful.

Harry shook his head, "It will take me years before I recreate some of the spells and magic arts that I could do. Maybe if I had a focus it would be easier."

Ralnor stopped for a moment and gained a thoughtful expression, "You mean those wands?"

The younger male nodded, "Yes. Wands were tools used by wizards and witches so they could control their magic to a higher degree. I remember that in some other countries people used different types of foci, but I never saw any."

"Interesting... I never heard of people using any sort of... what did you call it? Ah yes, foci. No, every sorcerer needed to learn how to control their magic. It was a long and hard process, but at least we could always use our magic. The only thing reminds me of any kind of focus is my old weapon," Ralnor said pointing at the short sword that was still lying on the ground.

Harry raised an eyebrow at the last statement, "Right, you said that your weapon was powerful. So you think that I can use it as a focus?"

The man frowned, "Not really a focus. I never felt like I could control my magic better with it, but unlike almost any weapon out there, this sword was made to handle getting magic channeled through it. See for yourself."

Harry looked at Ralnor then back at the sword and shrugged. There was no reason to not try and Harry already checked if the weapon was cursed or not.

With the decision made Harry took the weapon into his hand. It was a bit heavier than his short-sword, but nothing that Harry couldn't get used to. He tested it with a few experimental swings before he sent some magic to it.

Unlike Blackfyre where the magic fought him to even touch the weapon, with Ralnor's sword, his magic went right into it and the weapon began releasing a quiet humming sound.

Curious Harry pointed the sword at a small rock and used one of the harder transfigurations on it. Like expected the magic worked, but it still took as much focus from Harry as earlier.

Sighing Harry released the transfiguration, "So I can channel magic through it without problems, but it doesn't work like a foci."

Ralnor nodded as he expected such an outcome, "Understandable. Those wands your people used had parts of some creatures in them so that might be the reason."

Harry looked at his new companion in surprise before chuckling, "You know it is still weird how you know almost everything about my old life. I should probably be mad at you for going through my memories, but I would do the same if I was in your situation."

Ralnor smiled a bit, "I am glad that you understand, our partnership would be a lot harder if we were at each other throats all the time. Now back to the sword, try channeling your elemental magic into it."

Harry did just that and sent some fire magic into the weapon.

The blade instantly began to burn with bright flames. Harry quickly changed the magic to ice and watched as the sword's edges became sharper and wider thanks to the ice that appeared on the weapon.

"Bloody hell. You don't even know how many different ideas that give me," Harry whispered as he looked at the weapon in awe.

**"As I said, it is a very powerful blade. Now let's get going. You already collected as much gold as you could and there is nothing else left is this forsaken Vault," **Ralnor spoke inside Harry's mind, startling the boy a bit.

"Shit, At least warn me before you go back into my body," Harry grumbled as he strapped his new weapon to his left hip and the old short-sword to the right. He then returned Blackfyre to its sheat on his back, picked up his bag and slung it on his shoulder.

Ralnor was right, they stayed in the Vault a few hours so Harry could recover and then collect as many things as he wanted. One thing was for sure, Harry wouldn't have money problems for a very long time. No more unimportant small jobs.

"So do I need to search for the signs I left for myself or can you lead me back to the same entrance I used?" asked Harry as he walked out of the Vault.

**"Just follow my lead I can navigate this place without any problems."**

* * *

"So how is it to finally be out of this hellhole?" asked Harry as he finally came out from the underground.

"Refreshing," replied Ralnor as he materialized next to Harry.

The younger male raised an eyebrow, "Really? Refreshing that's all?"

Ralnor shrugged, "Don't get me wrong, I am really glad to finally be out, but what do you expect me to do? Dance, shout?" he shook his head, "No the sights are enough for me. Now tell me what are you planning to do next?"

"You didn't see my plans when you looked into my mind?" Harry asked curiously.

"As I said, I only took the most important information. I only know that you plan to go to Yi Ti," Ralnor answered casually.

Harry climbed another rock as the moved forward and thought about his plans. He wasn't in a hurry to go anywhere so there was no need to rush. Besides, it would be crucial to get more familiar with his new companion and maybe train some abilities. He was really close to completing the animagus transformation so if Harry focused a bit more time into the transformation then maybe he would be able to use the change before they arrived in Yi Ti.

"We will stop by the village I lived in before going into the ruins. We can decide what to do next later, I am not in a hurry to go anywhere," Harry finally answered as they left the ruins behind.

Ralnor nodded, "Fine with me. We still need to find the limits of our connection."

Without waiting for an answer the elder man again went back into Harry's body. They would arrive at the village soon and there was no reason to scare anyone.

* * *

**Two months later, late 292 AC**

Time slowly went by after the duo arrived at the village. As the village was small Harry and Ralnor had no problems with getting in and out. At first, the two mostly spent their time trying to find some familiar ground and building up their trust.

They mostly talked about Harry's past life and Ralnor's training as those were by far the only interesting parts of their life. Even though they could look into each other's mind they preferred to just talk things out. Slowly the two got more used to the other presence, but there were still moments when things got awkward.

Besides that, the two spent their time training their abilities and figuring out how their new connection worked.

After a longer inspection of the bond, Harry was quite sure that even though the connection was very strong, it still could be broken. Both companions quickly agreed that until they found a safe way to separate them, they wouldn't do anything. Both of them preferred to remain alive and unfortunately none of them specialized in any type of magic that would help with the connection.

Apart from that, they found out that Ralnor could wield normal weapons without any problem, though he still refused to take his short-sword back. Thanks to this Harry finally had a sparring partner that was closer to his level with a sword. Ralnor was quite embarrassed that even though he was much older than Harry, the boy was still tied with him in a fight. The elder man blamed his failure on the lack of practice during his years of imprisonment.

The two also tested out their magic to see if anything changed. Harry's magic worked like it used to, but Rolnor had some problems with his earth element. It was nothing that couldn't be fixed, but the elder sorcerer was still irritated that his magic was hit. At least they could teach each other about some aspect of magic that the other hadn't known about. Unfortunately, they couldn't use the other's elements, but that was expected.

After a month in the village, Harry finally decided to start moving in the direction of Leng Ma. The younger male wanted to take a ship from there and travel to Yin, the current capital of Yi Ti.

They traveled slowly and far from the official roads that connected the cities. Ralnor wanted to interact more with the outside world and Harry didn't really care how they would travel. He wanted more time to practice magic anyway so he was fine with that.

It was during one of Harry's attempts to transform that Ralnor finally asked what Harry was doing. The young wizard gladly explained the process and to say that Ralnor was surprised would be putting it mildly. Of course, he saw some mentions of animagus transformation in Harry's memories, but it wasn't important back then so he just forgot about it.

Harry asked the man if he wanted to learn, but Ralnor refused, stating that the occlumency lessons were enough for now.

It didn't take long for the two to get attacked by some wildlife, but the animals couldn't even get close to two experienced magicians. Still, they welcomed the challenge, Ralnor especially as it was a long time since he saw or fought against anything other than humans. It also helped to work out some frustration after some hard training sessions.

All in all, Harry was glad to have someone he could talk and train with during his travels. The situation with their connection wasn't perfect, but the two knew that it could have gone a lot worse.

Finally, after a bit more than a month of slow traveling the duo found themselves before the main gates to Leng Ma.

_"Excited to finally see the capital for yourself?" _Harry asked in his mind.

**"A bit. It will be nice to see what remains of the great Empire of Leng for myself,"** his companion answered back, **"Still I would be more interested if the same Empire wasn't the one to imprison me for years."**

Even after all those years Ralnor still held onto his grudge against the ones who left him closed in the Vault. Maybe not the most logical action, but with time it just became natural for him. Like a natural defense mechanism.

_"Can't blame you for holding a grudge, just remember they are not the same people. Things changed, centuries passed and most of those people don't even remember the fall of the old Empire," _said Harry as he walked through the gate. Their next stop, the docks.

**"Maybe you are right..." **Ralnor answered before trailing off. The same thing happened a lot lately and Harry was beginning to worry that maybe something was wrong with his companion.

It started after Ralnor found out that magic in the whole Know World was now rare. It was quite mind-boggling for the ancient man as in his time magic was almost everywhere. At least it explained why after some time anyone who came into the ruins had almost no magic inside them. Harry himself didn't know what happened to the world beyond the fact that some of the reason was tied to dragons.

Deciding to finally get his answers, Harry called out, _"Alright Ralnor. What the hell is wrong with you?"_

Harry almost managed to arrive at docks before Ralnor decided to answer, **"I apologize. I was just trying to get a better feel on the magic in Leng Ma. I still can't believe that real magic users are so rare nowadays. If the soldiers really can only use some magic to make themselves stronger and faster, then it is really pathetic what became of magic. I can't believe that it would just disappear like that."**

_"So that's what is troubling you... I can't really tell you anything new as we already spoke about this. Still, the situation in these regions is a lot better than in the west. There, magic users are even harder to find from what I know. I wonder if the return of Dragons would at least help strengthen the magic."_

**"You are referring to your egg,"** stated Ralnor as he already saw the dragon egg in Harry's possession, **"It is a shame that I was never interested in Valyrian history. They were known throughout the whole world for their powerful magic and control over dragons. It is unbelievable that they were destroyed. Another mystery that I would like to know the answer to."**

Harry sighed, _"You are not the only one. I guess that we will just need to go there and see what happened there. Still, I am not going there until I am sure that I can survive there."_

Ralnor snorted, **"It certainly didn't stop you from exploring the ruins."**

_"Yeah and I almost died because of stupidy. I thought that I was prepared and almost paid the price with my life. Now let's find a ship, I want to get away from this island."_

With the conversation finished, Harry spent the next hour walking around and asking people if there was any ship that was willing to take him to Yin. Unfortunately, most of the ships in that direction already left and those that still remained didn't take any passengers.

It took Harry almost another hour before he found a captain of a ship that could take them near Yin. Not really what the young sorcerer wanted, but it was better than nothing. Harry quickly paid the man enough gold for a room on the ship to sleep in before walking away as they would only depart tomorrow morning.

Harry spent the night in the nearest inn where he again tried to change into his animagus form. Thankfully the progress was showing and if Harry was right than in a few more days he would be able to change completely.

* * *

The next morning saw Harry board the ship that would drop him and some other people some distance away from Yin. He still didn't know why they wouldn't arrive in Yin's port, but for now, Harry could wait with getting his answers. He still needed to perfect his animagus transformation and the closed quarters below the deck should give him enough privacy.

That was how the duo spent their first few hours on the sea. Ralnor used this time to practice his occlumency so no time was wasted.

It was a few hours later that Harry finally decided to get some fresh air that they stopped their practice. It had been a long time since Harry traveled by ship and for Ralnor it something completely new. It was quite sad that even though the man was older than the entire crew of the ship summed up, he never left Leng even once.

Of course, Harry didn't mention the fact to his companion and just let Ralnor enjoy the new experience. Instead, Harry approached two members of the crew.

One of the crew members noticed him approaching and called out, "Here you are lad. I and Capitan were wondering if you are gonna spent the whole trip in your quarters."

Harry shrugged, "I just needed to get some rest. Couldn't sleep too well last night."

"We can understand that very well lad, isn't that right Thoro?" the Capitan said with a laugh.

The now identified Thoro snorted, "I highly doubt that the kid had the same reasons that we had Capitan. How old are you kid? Three and ten? Four and ten?"

Before Harry could even answer the Capitan cut in, "Bah. And who cares, the lad looks like a fighter I bet that no one would refuse him wine or a quick fuck."

Harry shifted uncomfortably, he knew that some people were quite blunt in this world, but that was a new one. Plus he didn't like how the Capitan pointed his two short-swords at his hips. Thankfully Blackfyre was hidden under the cloak, the last thing that Harry needed was someone releasing a rumor that a kid was traveling with Valyrian steel weapon.

Thoro seeing that Harry was getting uncomfortable sighed before addressing the boy, "Never mind... and don't listen to Ario, he is still a bit drunk," he then paused for a moment to lean on the mast next to him, "Anyway, is there anything that you need kid?"

"It is Harry and no, not really. I only wanted to ask why you are not stopping in Yin's port."

Surprisingly both sailors chuckled at the question, "Eh, it is not really a secret so I might as well tell you," Thoro answered and then pointed at the Capitan, "As you can see this idiot here likes to drink too much. So during one of our stays in Yin, we went to for a drink in one of the more popular inns there. Our lovely Capitan somehow in his drunken state managed to seduce a young woman and you can probably guess how their night ended."

Harry nodded fully knowing what happened, but he was really confused about how this story was related to anything.

Thoro seeing Harry's confusion continued, "You see my young friend, normally it wouldn't be a problem, but the next day it came out that the woman was the daughter of the port manager. So as you can expect the man was quite cross with us so we wisely decided to avoid Yin for the next few months. Just in case," the man finished with a snicker.

"I regret nothing, she was worth it," piped in the Capitan.

"So worth that you don't even remember her name," laughed Thoro.

Harry himself chuckled at the situation and he knew that Ralnor was also amused. The young sorcerer thanked the two for their time and walked away to find a quiet place on board so he could watch the sights and relax for a bit.

**"It is incredible how much I missed in my life. I would have never thought that something as simple as watching waves could be so relaxing," **Ralnor spoke quietly and Harry was glad that the ancient man was finally relaxed.

"Yes, it is...

* * *

It took them almost two weeks due to the bad weather to stop some way from Yin. Both Harry and Ralnor enjoyed their trip as even though the weather wasn't the best, it was at least something different than the jungles of Leng. Hopefully, Yi Ti would be more interesting.

Harry mostly spent those two weeks getting to know some members of the crew as he thought that they were pretty interesting people. They told him some of the news from Slaver's Bay and shared stories that mostly embarrassed other members. All in all, Harry enjoyed the experience immensely, it has been a long time since he met people who were so easy to talk with and didn't care about his age.

Yes, sometimes they asked questions why someone so young was traveling alone, but after Harry only gave them vague answers, they just gave up. It was somehow amusing for Harry when he saw the reaction to his bullshit answers.

Now just as Harry was waiting for them to stop completely, Thoro approached him and laid a hand on his shoulder.

"It was nice to meet you kid, I hope that we will meet again someday. I really want to know what in the seven hells you want to do in Yi Ti."

Harry shrugged lightly, "I don't know if I ever plan to travel to Slaver's Bay or back here, so the chances of us meeting again are small. Still, I enjoyed my trip with you so who knows."

Thoro shook his head, "And here you are wrong kid, we are planning to travel to Myr. So if you are ever in the area we just might meet again."

"Myr?" Harry asked curiously, "Why would you go change your normal route and go there?"

"From what we heard from our friends over there, someone rich settled down there and is looking for crews with ships to do some jobs for him. He pays well so I and the crew will be sailing there to check it out."

Harry hummed lightly, "Interesting... If you and the crew will be regulars there then we will probably be seeing each other sooner than I expected. Anyway, give the crew my thanks, I need to get going."

Thoro waved him off, "No problem kid, try to not get yourself killed out there."

Harry gave the man the last nod and walked off the ship. Now he just needed to go straight until he happened upon the roads. From what he read they were as good as Valyrian dragonroads so he shouldn't miss them.

* * *

**Day later**

The roads of Yi Ti definitely deserved their high opinion. Harry didn't know if they were as good as the one created by Valyrians, but the roads of Yi Ti looked like something straight out of his old world. Still, after a few hours of walking along the road, both Harry and Ralnor decided to stray a bit and walk closer to the forests.

At first, nothing happened and the duo was left to wander the clam forest. Of course, the peace didn't last long and they were attacked by basilisks. Thankfully basilisks of this world were not even half as dangerous as the ones from Harry's last world.

There were five of them and they were no larger than a medium-sized dog. Basilisks of this world had a reptile body with six legs and long tails. Their gaze couldn't kill people but from what Harry read about them, their venom was lethal.

Thankfully with the use of Harry's ice magic, a few well-placed reductor curses, and Ralnor's earth magic, the basilisks were quickly dealt with, even if the amount of magic used was enough to tire Harry a bit.

"You don't even know how glad I am that basilisks in this world are small reptiles," Harry said with a chuckle. They just stopped for a moment to regain some strength.

"There was something wrong with your world. A giant creature that could kill you by making eye contact? No thank you," Ralnor stated after Harry showed him the memory of the Basilisk form his second year in Hogwarts.

Both companions looked at each other as they heard the sounds of horses coming in their way. Ralnor quickly went back into Harry's body and Harry hid in the nearest bushes.

A few seconds later five horse riders or rather zorse riders galloped right next to Harry. All of the riders were dressed in black clothes and their faces were hidden under hoods. Even then Harry's attention was brought to one of the riders who was carrying another person on his zorse.

It was a young boy maybe eight-year-old, he was tied with a rope and his mouth was covered so he wouldn't be able to emit a sound. Harry didn't get more time to observe them as the zorses didn't stop and ran ahead.

For a second Harry wanted to intervene, but then he realized that he would only put himself in another dangerous situation like an idiot. Yes, he wanted to help the boy, but he was way past the point where he rushed into dangerous situations without a plan.

No, if they were running so fast then probably someone was chasing them. For now, Harry really wanted to get to Yin that was just about an hour away from his current position.

**"Don't worry too much. If you really want to help the boy then we will resupply and then we can think of going after them. Besides we would need a horse if we want to catch them," **Ralnor quickly cut in.

"...Alright."

* * *

About twenty minutes later Harry arrived before the huge walls of Yin. The city was a lot bigger than anything than Harry saw to this day. If he was to bet then there were probably more than million of people living inside those walls and a lot more in the area surrounding the city.

Like Harry expected many things here remained him of Imperial China. The architecture style, style of dressing, or even weapons wielded by soldiers. All in all, Harry and Ralnor enjoyed the sights and momentarily they forgot about the kidnapped boy they encountered not long before. At least on the way to city they saw a few parties of riders rushing in the same direction so that was something.

The duo was brought out of their thought by the guards at the gate, "Stop right there," the guard called out, thankfully in a language Harry could understand, "Yin is currently on lockdown and no foreigners are allowed in."

Harry groaned as he could already feel the headache coming, "Can I at least know the reason why I am not allowed in?"

The guard remained silent for a moment before nodding, "I can only say that an important member of our society was kidnapped. Now please turn around and leave."

_"You've got to be kidding me..." _Harry thought annoyed as he turned back and walked back in the direction of the forest.

**"We can't be that unlucky, there is just no way..."** Ralnor added in exasperation.

Harry chuckled lightly, "You are going to find out sooner or later that with me everything is possible. Now it is time to start our own chase."

The young sorcerer then hid behind the trees and focuses with all his might before he channeled all of his magic through his body. Slowly his form began to shrink an instead of a young male, a Peregrine Falcon stood in his place. Finally, the animagus transformation was completed

_"Let's see if I still remember how to fly."_


	13. The Land of Three Emperors

Sunspear, the seat of the House Nymeros Martell, and the capital of Dorne. Even though the castle was located in lands where deserts and very hot weathers were normal, the place was still beautiful. Besides anyone who decided to live in Dorne was prepared to deal with the characteristics of the land.

As of now, the current head of the House Martell, Prince Doran Martell, sat in his study where he was going through the numerous documents that required his attention.

Unfortunately, the Prince's mind couldn't focus on what he was reading. No, thoughts were centered on the conversation that he would have with his only daughter in a few minutes. Princess Arianne Martell, the girl of four and ten that made his past few months a real pain.

At first, Doran couldn't understand where the sudden rebellious streak was coming from. He knew that she was a lively spirit and probably spent too much time with Oberyn for her own good. Even then this didn't explain why one day she just went and lost her virginity to a random man - despite knowing it could cause problems -, before running to Doran and openly telling him what she had done.

Before this event, Arianne and Doran had a very good daughter-father relationship. They were very close and Doran was very distraught that something changed his daughter in the span of a few days.

Thankfully after the confusion and shock went away, Doran, with some help, finally managed to figure out what caused the rebellion. Somehow Arianne found out that he planned to take her rightful position as the heiress of Dorne away from her. Of course, Doran had plans that would make Arianne someone much more important than just a ruler of Dorne.

Unfortunately, all of his and Oberyn's carefully laid out plans went to hell after what happened a few days ago and, due to the report Oberyn sent him, he would need to talk to Arianne before he released the news to the rest of the kingdom. Doran couldn't leave his daughter in the dark anymore, not with what the secrets were causing.

Finally, the doors to his study opened and Arianne slowly entered the room.

Arianne, even though she was not yet fully developed, was growing into a beautiful woman just like her mother. She had olive skin, large dark eyes, and long, thick black hair that fell to the middle of her back. Like Mellario, Doran's wife, Arianne was on the short side, but it suited her perfectly.

"Father," Arianne said curtly but her voice lacked any of the warmth it had held just a few months ago, "You called for me."

"Yes Arianne," Doran answered before gesturing at the empty seat across him, "Please sit down, we have much to talk about."

Arianne did as she was told, but all this time she held her stony and cold demeanor. If it wasn't for the fact that it was used in the meeting with her own father, Doran would be proud that his daughter had perfect control of her current mask.

The prince sighed and sat straighter in his seat, "I know that a few months ago you found out about something that I hoped would remain a secret a bit longer. Unfortunately, you found out and due to a tragedy that has befallen our family a few days ago, I decided that I need to reveal those secrets to you, before I inform the rest of Dorne what happened."

Arianne's posture remained mostly unchanged through Doran's speech, but she got a very bad feeling when her father mentioned a tragedy. Their family had experienced enough of them. Even then, the Princess still held some anger towards her father for his decision about the change of heirship, so her answer came out colder than she expected.

"So you finally decided to tell me why I lost my rightful position to my younger sibling?" she spat bitterly.

"Don't take that tone with me. I am your father and the ruler of Dorne," Doran said with a bit of heat in his voice. Silence fell upon the room and Doran took this moment to gather his thoughts once more. "But yes... it is time to tell you why I planned to take the heirship from you. But first I must inform you that your brother, Quentyn, has been killed."

The princess took a moment to process her father's words and couldn't believe what she heard. She was never close to her younger brother, but it didn't mean that she wanted him to die. Not even the news that he would take the heirship from her could put such thoughts in her mind. He was family and even if Arianne didn't always show it, she loved her whole family.

"What happened?" she asked quietly.

Doran sighed sadly. He expected this reaction from her and if it wasn't for the fact that he knew about Quentyn's death for a few days, Doran would be acting quite similarly. Unfortunately being who he was Doran couldn't grieve like normal people. Time for that would come after he dealt with the fallout of this tragedy.

"Two months ago Quentyn and Oberyn traveled to Essos so they could run a few errands that required secrecy. Originally only Oberyn was meant to go, but your brother wanted to see more of the world and help your uncle, so I allowed it. It was a mistake that I will carry with me until the end of my days... Your brother and some of our men were attacked by pirates when they were coming back. Only one member of the crew survived, without him we would never know what happened," Doran finished solemnly.

"And uncle Oberyn?" Arianne asked again, this time her worry was evident.

"He is fine," Doran assured, "Quentyn was meant to be back earlier than him so Oberyn is still in Essos. Though not for long."

"But why?" the princess questioned angrily, "What was so important that you would let them both go without enough men to protect them?"

Doran sighed again, it was finally time to reveal the secret betrothal and explain his plan, "To answer this and to give you the reason why I wanted to take away your heirship, I would need to start with the plan that Oberyn and I put in place when you were much younger."

"After Elia's death, Oberyn and I wanted one thing, revenge. Unfortunately, there was no way to attain it. With the Targaryens defeated we couldn't just go and fight every kingdom so we just accepted what happened and decided to bide our time. It was almost ten years ago that we finally decided on a plan. Two of the Targaryens were still alive and after a long discussion I sent Oberyn to find them," Doran stopped for a moment and took a sip of wine.

Arianne meanwhile was still trying to come to terms with her brother's death and at the same time understanding everything that her father said. It was hard, but if she wanted to get her answers, she needed to stay strong.

"Surprisingly Oberyn had little trouble finding the Targaryens and their guardian," Doran continued, "After your uncle explained our proposition, Willem Darry signed the pact for the Targaryens and Oberyn signed for Dorne."

When Doran didn't continue, Arianne inquired, "What was the pact about?"

"Read for yourself," Doran replied as he handed her a sheet of parchment.

Arianne took the paper and slowly read through its content. The more she read the more she understood her father's actions. Most of the anger she held for him slowly faded away and after she put the pact away, she said quietly, "I apologize for my previous actions father, if I had known..."

Doran quickly stopped her with a raised hand, "No Arianne. If there is someone to blame for all that has happened it is me. I should have told you earlier, but again I made a mistake."

Arianne nodded, slowly accepting his words even if they didn't make the guilt she felt go away, "The pact said that I would marry Viserys Targaryen and become the Queen after we help them retake Westeros. But with Quentyn's death are you planning for Trystane to take the place of the heir of Dorne now?"

Doran shook his head, "Normally I would do just that, but after the report that I received from Oberyn, I decided against it. According to your uncle, who was meant to check on the last Targaryens, their guardian is dead and they are now traveling through the Free Cities in a search of someone who would take them in. The important part is that Oberyn thinks that Viserys is showing the signs of the same madness that Aerys Targaryen was afflicted with. I won't have my daughter marry a madman who would lead us all to death."

"So the pact is void?" Arianne asked as she looked down on the piece of parchment again.

"Yes and no," Doran replied before taking the pact back and hiding it, "I plan to take revenge against the pirates that decided that it was a good idea to mess with Martels. Preparations will take some time so Oberyn will remain in Essos and observe the Targaryens until we are ready. It should give your uncle enough time to make the final decision about the pact. Only a few people know of it so we can pretty much do anything."

Arianne nodded once again. With all of those revelations, the young woman felt a bit numb. The death of her brother, the pact, it was a bit too much for her and nobody could really blame her. Arianne knew that the world she lived in was neither fair nor perfect, but she didn't expect any of this when she was called to her father's study.

Doran seeing the emotions on his daughter's face sighed sadly. She was still young and had a lot to learn, but it didn't mean that Doran wanted to put all of Dorne's issues on her shoulders. Hopefully, with the secrets now in the open, Doran would be able to mend his relationship with Arianne and prepare her for what was to come.

"I think that we should reschedule our talk for later. For now, go and rest. I am sure you need some time to process all that we talked about. Tomorrow I will inform the people of Dorne of your brother's fate and I want you to be there with me and your mother," Doran said and while his voice was soft, Arianne knew that it was more of an order.

She raised her head and met her father's gaze. There Arianne saw the exhaustion behind his eyes and finally realized that this whole ordeal was taking the biggest toll on him. It was probably for the best to wait a few days to continue their talk.

"I will do as you said, father. Good night," with that she stood up and slowly walked out of the study still deep in thoughts.

* * *

**"Are you sure you know where we are going?" **Ralnor inquired as they flew close to the entrance to the forest near Yin.

_I had a feeling that the kidnappers would cause some problems so I tried to remember the direction they ran in. Now please keep quiet, it is hard enough to keep my transformation together and trying to find the way, _Harry responded in his mind and Ralnor gave a mental nod in response.

The animagus transformation, even though it worked properly, was very hard to keep together. Harry was pretty sure that with enough training it would become easier, but for now, it was taking every ounce of his focus to maintain it. It didn't help that he was the only one who paid attention to where the kidnappers were going. Now he just needed to find the right path.

Thankfully it only took him a few minutes to find the place where the kidnappers passed them, from there Harry flew a bit higher and increased his speed in hopes of catching up to them. Of course, there was a possibility that they changed their direction and they would never find them, but Harry hoped that with the improved vision of falcon, he would be able to follow the tracks they left. There was no way that Harry would be able to keep up with zorses on foot so his animagus transformation was the only way to go.

_They couldn't get that far. No more than two hours passed since they passed us so where are you? _Harry thought to himself as he flew a bit lower to see if the tracks were still there. Thankfully they were and soon Harry's thoughts were proven true as he finally spotted the group of zorses running between the trees.

_Any ideas on how to stop them without risking the boy's life? _Harry asked his companion.

**"We can either wait for them to stop, take care of the one who carries the boy with them, or just take them all out in quick succession. Personally, I would prefer the last option even if it is more dangerous. Who knows when they will finally stop and we don't have time to make any complicated plans," **Rolnor's voice answered after a few minutes of silence.

Harry thought about those options and agreed with Ralnor. Who knew when the kidnappers would decide to stop. Harry didn't have endless reserves of magic to keep his transformation and sooner or later he would need to rest. The question was how to eliminate all of the kidnappers quickly without harming the boy.

They could try and prepare a trap ahead of the kidnappers but they couldn't be sure that the kidnappers wouldn't change their path. Only a direct attack would be able to accomplish what they needed. _Ralnor do you think that you would be able to create a stone cage around one of them?_

**"At their current speed, it could be hard, but not impossible for one target. It would cost a lot of power and I need to be on the ground so the decision is yours," **Ralnor responded quickly.

_Alright, this is what we are going to do..._

* * *

"Don't slow down! We will rest during the night," shouted the middle rider who carried their package.

Currently, the five elite riders were traveling in a defensive formation. Their captain and the kidnapped boy in the middle with every other side covered by another rider. It was a simple and useful tactic that would defend their Capitan and target if anything were to attack them.

Not that they expected any encounter, their mission had gone without a hitch, and soon the new Emperor would have the advantage needed to destroy the fool that ruled over Yin.

Unfortunately for the Captain he never expected for the trees before them to explode. Thankfully they were far enough that everyone managed to stop their zorses.

The Captain was just opening his mouth to give the order to move again, but before he could do that, the earth beneath his zorse moved. Four stone walls rose from the earth trapping him in a cage with no exit.

It didn't take long for the Capitan to realize what or rather who attacked them.

A magician. There were not many left of those in the lands of Yi Ti, but most of them lived in hiding or in the courts of powerful people. The Capitan couldn't understand what one of them would be doing in the middle of Yi Ti's forests. From what they knew the current Emperor of Yin didn't have a magician with such abilities, meaning it could only be someone else.

He could only hope that his soldiers would be able to defeat the threat and then free him from the stone prison. Their mission was too important to fail now.

* * *

Harry watched surprised as their plan worked better than he expected. Yes, the explosion was meant to slow the company down a bit, but not stop them. Of course, Ralnor was prepared and as soon as he could, he trapped the kidnapper with the boy inside a stone prison. It was strong enough to hold them inside at least until Harry and Ralnor dealt with the rest.

That was exactly what the duo was currently preparing for. All of the soldiers had already dismounted their zorses to inspect the prison and it was the perfect moment to strike.

"I hope that you are not planning to leave any of them alive. We don't need new enemies that would know about our abilities," Ralnor spoke from the side.

"I know. I am far past the point to leave alive something that would bite me in the ass later, especially in this world," Harry replied as he prepared his magic and formed two ice spears in his hands.

"Good," the older man said before looking at Harry's creations with a raised eyebrow, "Are you sure you can hit them from this distance?"

Harry shrugged, "Well, only one way to find out."

With that, the younger wizard used both his magic and strength to hurl both of the ice spears at the unexpecting soldiers. Thanks to Harry's training, the spears hit two soldiers, knocking them to the ground. A moment later and both of them were dead from the magic that was imbued in the spears that pierced them through their chests.

The rest of the soldiers turned in the direction from which the spears came only to be met with two stone golems that resembled a boar.

The animals created by Ralnor didn't waste any time in charging their new foes and before the soldiers could move to defend, they both laid on the ground with their skulls crushed.

"That was a lot easier than I expected," Harry murmured to himself.

Ralnor hearing his companion's opinion couldn't help but say, "Not surprising. You can't really expect some normal soldiers, even if they are highly trained, to combat two mages who got them by surprise. I doubt that they even expected anything to attack them."

"True, but it is still a bit weird for me to fight people who can't use magic. Even in those few years that I am alive in this world, I mostly fought people who had some sort of sorcery available to them."

Ralnor could understand that, "I can see what you mean. Give it a few more years and you will get used to the changes. Just don't get overconfident in your abilities... Now let me deal with the last kidnapper."

Harry nodded and Ralnor approached the stone prison that he created. Then he put a hand on the wall and a second later the soldier inside released a loud scream. When the sound died off Ralnor released the prison and the duo was met with the sight of a dead soldier, a very scared zorse, and a bound boy.

Ralnor quickly snatched the kid from the zorse before it could run away. It was a very good idea as the moment the animal realized it was free, it ran away as fast as it could. Thankfully the rest of the zorses remained, so at least they would have something to ride back on.

Harry looked at the boy as Ralnor freed him from the ropes that bound him and asked, "Is he alright?"

"Only knocked out. I am no healer so I can't really tell you if there is something wrong. At least it will save us the trouble of explaining what I am and how we defeated the group. Now get on one of the zorses, we don't have time to waste, I will help you with the boy."

As Harry had never ridden a normal horse before - Thestrals didn't count -, it was a completely alien experience to him. If it wasn't for Ralnor's help, both Harry and the boy would've fallen from the zorse multiple times. Harry enjoyed the new experience, but with the animagus transformation available to him, a horse would never be his primary method of transportation.

The way back was boring and after some time uncomfortable with the boy sitting in front of him. Finally, after hours of riding the city of Yin again appeared in their vision.

They arrived at the same gate when it was already dark and were greeted the same way as before.

"I am sorry to bother you, but I have an injured child with me and some help would be appreciated," Harry called out as he got off the zorse taking the boy with him.

At first, the guards didn't react but when they saw the boy that Harry carried, one of them ran back through the gate while the other approached the wizard, "The Prince! How!?" the guard shouted, "No matter, come quickly with me!"

Harry nodded and followed the guard through the gate. The inside of the city looked just like Harry expected, but with the current time of the day, the streets were mostly empty.

A moment later a few more guards joined them and took the Prince from Harry, but still told him to follow them. The wizard took this time to think of his current situation,_ I thought that the kid was some important noble, but a Prince? Bloody hell... Me and my luck._

Ralnor chuckled in his mind, **"It is amusing to see it for myself. I am curious about what they are planning to do with you. Will the glamors hold long enough? I don't expect anyone to react positively if your appearance will suddenly change before everyone."**

_They should last long enough. I might be bad with illusions but I won't fail at something so simple. Besides I think that we have finally arrived, _Harry was right as he and the guards were currently approaching a very beautiful palace. It was two-story high and was colored in red and green. Harry couldn't recognize the style, but he was sure any architect from his old world would be salivating at the sight of the building.

Before they could enter the palace the guards requested Harry leave all of his weapons outside. The wizard knew that there was no way around it so he reluctantly gave his swords to one of the guards. Thankfully Blackfyre was wrapped in cloth so no one would be able to recognize the blade.

With the task done the guards led him inside. There the Prince was carried deeper inside the building while Harry was told to wait with two other guards.

It was obvious that no one here trusted him as evident by the number of guards that still remained with Harry in the room, but they were at least civil enough to not point any weapons in his direction. Both Ralnor and Harry were fine with that, as long as they didn't need to fight their way out, they could accept that treatment.

Harry didn't really know how long he sat in the room waiting, but at least it gave him some time to relax after the uncomfortable ride back. Besides, the guards were nice enough to get him something to drink and eat from the servants in the palace.

By the time someone finally came for Harry, the wizard was almost falling asleep.

"We apologize for the long wait, but His Imperial Majesty, the seventeenth azure emperor Bu Gai will see you now," one of the servants spoke in a thick accent. It was good that people here could speak a language that Harry understood.

The servant then led Harry through another few rooms until they stood before a door to another chamber. It was obviously some important room if Harry was to go by the designs and decorations etched in the door.

This time only Harry went inside and was met by the sight of a simple if a bit extravagant study, and a man that sat in a chair behind a desk.

If Harry was to judge, he would say that the man was no older than thirty. He had a strong build, but also all of the traditional features that Harry saw in other YiTish people. his Hair was short and of black coloring, similar to Harry's from his old world. Apart from that, the man wore very beautiful robes that Harry bet cost a fortune, but if he was the Emperor then who could blame him.

_How in the hell do you address an Emperor? _Harry asked a bit nervously in his mind. He never needed to learn things like that so he really hoped that Ralnor would know.

**"Your Highness should be enough, besides I doubt that they expect a foreigner to know all of their customs," **Ralnor answered quickly.

Harry sent a mental thank you to his companion before he stood in the front of the desk and bowed deeply, "Your Highness, it is an honor to meet you."

**"That will do," **Ralnor said with a snort.

The Emperor was obviously pleased by the greeting as he gave Harry a sign to sit down, "Well met stranger. Now before we continue I would be grateful if you could show me your true face and tell me your name."

_What? __I didn't feel any magic coming from him, how can he see the illusion?_ Harry thought confused. Obviously his reaction showed on Harry's face if the Emperor's next word were any indication.

"No need to act surprised. Know that while I am not a true magician myself, every Emperor was taught to defend versus sorcerers to some degree. Now if you could remove the illusion," the emperor stated calmly.

Harry nodded slowly and focused on the illusion that hid some of his features. His hair again was again of the snow-white color and his eyes changed from blue to the violet that Harry inherited from his Blackfyre ancestry.

"Interesting," whispered the emperor, "It has been quite a few years since anyone of Valyrian descent visited Yin. Tell me, what is your name?"

"Harry, your Highness," the wizard answered formally. He could give the man his surname, but there was no reason to spread the word that a Blackfyre was running around Yi Ti.

"Harry... hmm I don't think that I ever heard of a Valyrian with such a name. Oh well, it doesn't matter. First, let me thank you for returning my son back to me. The kidnappers took us by surprise and if it wasn't for you I am not sure if my son would have ever returned", the emperor said and this time Harry could feel the gratitude.

"I did what any self-respecting man would do," not really true as even though Harry still had his 'saving people thing', it was heavily muted after all of the events in his old life and now his rebirth. So even though Harry wanted to save the boy, he also did it to enter Yin legally.

"No need to be modest, young man, I am not quite sure how someone of your age managed to recover my son - I hope that you will tell me later -, but you still did it and I will be forever in your debt," Harry was really glad that the emperor didn't ask for any details, he and Ralnor would need to have a long discussion to create a believable tale. Also having an Emperor in your debt could help in the future.

"Normally I would ask you a few more questions, but it is already late and I am sure you are tired. I had a servant prepare a room for you, so I hope that you will accept and stay here for a few days."

Harry nodded, he wanted to stay in Yin for some time anyway, and maybe he could get some interesting information in the Emperor's court.

The Emperor clapped his hands in visible happiness, "Great. One of my servants will be waiting for you outside the door and lead you to your temporary room. Good night."

With the obvious sign that he just got dismissed, Harry stood up, bowed, and left the room. Like the emperor said another servant was waiting for him.

The walk was short and quiet. Harry took this time to memorize as much of the palace as he could, you never know when he would need to make an escape. Plus with the two guards that followed him everywhere, it was obvious that neither the emperor nor the guards trusted him. Understandable and it at least showed that they weren't stupid enough to trust him just for one good deed.

_Oh well, not like I need their trust anyway,_ thought Harry as he laid down on the comfortable bed in his new room.

**"So what now? We are in Yin and we even managed to get an audience with the Emperor on our first day. Which in and of itself is very surprising, but I guess that rescuing his son counts for something"****,** Ralnor commented finally.

Harry hummed in agreement as he thought of an answer. He came to Yi Ti without any particular plan, he just wanted to see the part of the world that resembled an old civilization from his old world. From what he knew Yi Ti didn't have any ruins that he would want to explore, so he was going totally blind here.

_I guess we'll just stay here for the time being. I want to find out more about this land and I am not in a hurry to leave. It is quite beautiful here, Leng had too many jungles for my taste, _maybe it wasn't a plan, but for now, it should be enough. Then just as Harry wanted to finally close his eyes and go to sleep a thought occurred to him, _I hope that you have a good imagination as we will need some really good bullshit story to explain how a twelve-year-old managed to defeat 5 kidnappers._

**"Shit."**

* * *

...and that's how I managed to free your son,"_ there is no fucking way that he will believe that, _Harry told mentally to his companion as he finished recounting his very modified version of the Prince's rescue to the emperor.

Judging from the Emperor's expression Harry was right. Finally, after a minute of silence, the Emperor sighed and said, "I can see that you obviously won't reveal the whole truth to me and I can respect that. I have met a few sorcerers in my life and all of them were very secretive. It is still hard to believe that a four and ten boy managed to defeat five elite soldiers, but no one really knows the limits of magic. Thank you for telling me all of this and like I said I am in your debt."

Here, Harry finally breathed a sigh of relief. The Emperor was awfully nice to him and it looked like he could get away with his totally bullshit story. It was also good that Harry looked a bit older than he was, it gave him a bit more credibility and he wasn't going to correct them on his age. Now it would probably be a good time to finally discover why the kid was even kidnapped.

"I don't really have anything that I need, your Highness. For now, I only plan to stay in Yin for some time and learn more about the land. But I was hoping to find out why the Prince was kidnapped," maybe not the most formal way to address an Emperor, but Harry never liked to deal with nobles.

The Emperor frowned lightly, "It is not really a secret, but as you are new to our lands I should have expected that you didn't know. You see my father, the previous azure emperor, wasn't the best of rulers. Yi Ti endured many conflicts and civil wars during his reign and even after I took the throne many of my people were still against my dynasty. My power in comparison to the god-emperors of old is very weak. The local governors and tax-collectors have carved out a hundred princedoms among the provinces and most of them don't listen to my orders."

The man then sighed and took a sip of wine from his goblet, "What's worse is that, during the end of my father's rule in Carcosa on the Hidden Sea an exiled sorcerer lord claimed to be the 69th yellow emperor. In addition, a former general called Pol Qo decided to create his own dynasty and is now calling himself the first orange emperor using Trader Town as his capital. So as you see Yi Ti is constantly in conflict. I tried my best to fix the mistakes that my father made, but it will take years and who knows what the other emperors will do in this time."

Harry, who listened carefully to everything the emperor said, couldn't help but feel a bit bad for the man. Three Emperors in one land, it couldn't end well.

"So the kidnapping was ordered by one of the fake emperors?" Harry questioned as he came out of his thoughts.

The Emperor nodded, "It is the most likely scenario. Pol Qo was always more active than the supposed sorcerer so I wouldn't be surprised if he was behind it all."

So the emperor from Trader Town was more active. That was good to know, but Harry would like to find out more about the 'supposed' sorcerer that claimed to be another emperor. After all, Harry wanted to know about everyone who could wield magic. Still, he could discover more on his own, who knew how the emperor would react if Harry asked too many questions.

"Thank you for telling me this, Your Highness. I am sure you have more important things to do than talking with me," Harry finally said, hoping to end the subject and move on.

The emperor waved him off, "Don't mention it, young sorcerer. Unfortunately, you are right that I have some important things to take care of today. Of course, you are welcome to stay in the palace as long as you need and you will be forever welcome in Yin, but for now, I need to take care of my duties."

Knowing that he just got dismissed again, Harry left the room and decided that maybe it was time to explore some of the city. Thankfully this time only one guard followed him.

* * *

Far away in the land of Seven Kingdoms, a Spider sat in one of the rooms of the Red Keep. Being the Master of Whisperers meant you needed to know everything that could affect the realm and Varys took his job very seriously.

Currently, the bald man was reading through the reports that came from Dorne and Essos. It was not common for anything important to happen in the sandy kingdom of Westeros, but now Varys received one and it wasn't short.

The death of Prince Quentyn wasn't something that the Master of Whisperers expected. He was still a young boy so Varys was a bit surprised when he heard that the Prince was killed by pirates.

Thankfully this event shouldn't cause any major problems for the realm so Varys only told his spies to be on the watch for any changes that could occur in the aftermath of the Prince's death. He wanted to know if or when the Martels would do something rash and risk the already fragile peace that reigned in the Seven kingdoms.

Next, the missive that came from Essos was a bit more interesting even if it again had to do with Martels.

It appeared that Prince Oberyn was seen close to the Targaryen siblings and Varys was sure that it wasn't a coincidence. Unfortunately, the Spider didn't receive any more information about this subject and it wasn't something that he could allow.

Varys already had plans for Targaryens and it wouldn't do for the Martels to destroy them. He just might need to accelerate his plans for them.

His little birds would soon have a lot of work to do...


	14. Traveler's tale

**Late 294 AC**

_**"Wake up, the sun is rising,"**_ Ralnor's voice finally broke through the dream that Harry was having a second ago.

"Yeah, yeah. Give me a break, I had a long day yesterday," Harry said in a tired tone and slowly rose up to a sitting position. His mind went back to the last day and the longest flight he ever tried since he managed to turn into his animagus form two years ago. It was tiring on his magic, but ever since the events in Mossovy, Harry's control of magic got better.

"I still think that you are mad for sleeping on the head of the Titan of Braavos. If it wasn't for my earth magic and your wards, you would have fallen," the elder man said after he materialized next to Harry and turned around to look at the vast land beneath them.

After all this time together Ralnor's form was no longer mostly transparent and colors returned to both his body and the equipment he had on. It was a very good development as now the elder wizard could use a lot more magic and was stronger physically.

"Maybe," shrugged Harry as he joined his companion in watching the rising sun, "But tell me when was the last time we could watch something like that. Besides, we both know that with our magic we are perfectly safe here, more than we would be in the city."

"True," Ralnor answered with a snort, "I have got to agree with you, the sight is beautiful. Still, we need to get moving soon, we got a lot to do today."

"Right," Harry said and went back to gathering his equipment, "By the way, could you finally contact the person who is still trying to get into my dreams?"

That was a subject that was troubling the duo ever since they left Yi Ti about seven moons ago. They didn't know why, but almost every night that Harry went to sleep, he was dreaming of a large tree in frozen lands. At first, Harry ignored this occurrence as the wizard had his own bit of weird dreams in his life. Unfortunately after they left Mossovy, Ralnor and Harry realized that those dreams weren't natural.

After a quick scan of magic done by Ralnor when Harry was sleeping, they found out that someone was repeatedly invading Harry's dreams, leaving those images in his mind. Harry was obviously confused that his occlumency didn't protect him from this invasion. But after a long investigation, they found out that whoever was leaving those images, wasn't invading Harry's mind directly and only had the access to his dreams.

Ever since this discovery, Harry tried to contact this person to politely tell them to fuck off, but the connection was always too weak and nothing could be done about it. That was why Harry was slowly traveling in the direction of the only place where snow was always falling.

"The connection is much stronger here, but I doubt that you will be able to force the invader to meet you," Ralnor finally answered after a bit of thought.

"That's what I feared," Harry said with a frown, "I really don't want to go to Westeros so I could search for a bloody tree. The land of Seven Kingdoms was never in my plans to visit, at least not before going to Valyria and Myr again. I really want to know what the hell is going on there."

Ralnor nodded his head, he was of the same opinion, but they needed to deal with this problem so they could focus on other things, "We can stay here a few days and see if we can think of something now that the connection is stronger."

"Maybe you are right..." Harry said slowly as he stood up with his full gear on.

The wizard grew up in those last two years and if he kept his face hidden, some even took him for a grown-up man. His hair was still short and his body was conditioned after all those years of training. Harry was sure that even though his magic might still not be as strong as it used to be in his old world, his physical condition was as good as it could be.

Nowadays Harry was garbed in the clothes and armor that he received and then upgraded during his long stay in Yi Ti. It was mostly made out of high-quality hide and leather. But there were some places that had small metal plates on it, like the breastplate, vambraces, and a few spots on Harry's pants. It was mostly colored in black, but there were parts in dark red color. Harry thought that it was a nice, hidden reference to the House Blackfyre.

It was an armor given to Harry as a reward by the God-Emperor of Yin. At first, Harry wanted to protest as he didn't really need a new armor as he would grow out of it after a year of using. Still, the Emperor insisted and after some discussion, the armor was made a few sizes bigger than Harry wore at the time.

Even after two years, the outfit was still a bit too big, but with the help of magic, Harry made it work. After all the time he spent to engrave the needed protection runes, Harry wanted to finally wear it so his impatience was understandable.

Apart from his outfit, Harry also used a simple black cloak with a hood to cover almost everything he possessed. He didn't need people looking at him so they could figure out who the hell was he. The fewer people knew about him the better.

"I know I am," Ralnor said after Harry joined him in looking at the city beneath them, "Do you think that your old friend is here?"

"No clue. He told me that he was going to visit Qarth, but didn't know how long he would stay there. I guess we will need to do some good old information gathering. It is going to be a pain to find a single man in a city that big," the younger wizard finished with a tired sigh.

"He should be one of the few people that can actively use magic in those parts of the world, so it shouldn't be that hard," Ralnor tried to reassure his companion.

"For now let's just go and restock, it has been some time since we visited a city and I am running low on some things."

Ralnor took this as a sign to dematerialize and after Harry deactivated the last wards around him, he transformed into his animagus form and flew in the direction of the city.

* * *

Braavos, the wealthiest and probably the most powerful Free City in Essos. The city was sprawled across a hundred islands in a vast lagoon and while Harry thought that it gave the city a particular charm, he knew it could end very badly in the future. One only needed to look at the drowned part of the city to know that the whole city was under such danger.

Harry wasn't sure why no one was worried about such a dangerous possibility, but who he was to worry about it. It wasn't his problem and he was sure that no one would listen to him anyway.

Currently, Harry was walking through the fish market of Braavos, even though the name indicated that only fish should be sold here, one could pretty much buy anything in this market. Apart from that Harry hoped that maybe he could find some information about Maran here, after all the old man was a trader so maybe other traders would know something.

**_"Did you sense anything?"_** Harry asked mentally after he finished buying some fruits. He would later put them in the bag with stasis runes so they would remain fresh for a longer time.

_**"I was wrong and this city has more magic users than I expected, but I can only sense a few presences that could be strong enough to be your friend. There is also the fact that some of them are in one place. We should probably check it out before we go on a wild chase," **_Ralnor answered as he analyzed everything he could feel in the city.

Harry's eye narrowed slightly, _**"A group you say? Maran mostly kept to himself in Asshai, but it never hurts to check."**_

Ralnor only sent a silent agreement back and Harry was left with the task of finding a place to transform. Braavos was big and Harry was too impatient to walk through the whole city while he could just transform into a bird and get to his destination faster.

The first place which Harry decided to investigate turned out to be the famous Isle of the Gods. One of the main islands in the center of Braavos that was dedicated to the various shrines and temples of gods. It was nice to see that at least one of the Free Cities was open to any religion in the world, even if some of them were pretty questionable and savage. Not that Harry would tell that to anyone as they were free to believe in whatever they wanted.

When Harry finally made a full round around the island, he was not surprised that he could feel magic from the Temple of the Lord of Light, **_"Of course, those bloody priests would be here. Why did I even doubt that?"_**

Ralnor chuckled inside his mind, _**"Not a fan of them eh?"**_

This time it was Harry who couldn't help but snort, _**"I already told you my opinion of them. I am definitely not going to be friends with any of those priests in the future, but as long as they don't mess with my life, I am fine with ignoring them."**_

This conversation came to a stop as Harry arrived before a big building with large, black and white doors. Harry could instantly sense the magic coming from it, but he knew that it wasn't completely normal. It had an otherwordly feel to it, and after some thought, Harry realized what it was.

_**"The Many-Faced God or in one word, Death. I completely forgot about this place," **_Harry admitted slowly, his gaze still at the black and white doors.

_ **"Well, at least we know that it exists. Do you plan to go in?"** _

_**"No, not yet. We have more important things to do now. We can go sightseeing later. I want to find Maran and then get some rest, I am still tired from yesterday's flight," **_Harry answered as he turned away from the building. They could visit this place again when Harry was at full strength, after all the House was known for its assassins, so Harry would prefer to be prepared.

From there Harry again found a place to transform and flew in the last direction that Maran could be. If he wasn't there, then Harry would need to ask some people around the city and find out if the old man was even in Braavos.

It turned out that Harry was lead to the outskirts of the city where a smaller market area was located. When he finally transformed back, Harry found the place they were looking for.

A small wooden house with open doors, that had some goods placed on the outside.

Harry slowly inspected some of the items and found what he was looking for. Almost every item had some small runes inscribed onto them. They were almost unnoticeable. Harry suspected that if it was Maran who was selling them, the old man decided on only applying a few runes into the items. There was no reason to be outed as a magician in this part of the world. Harry could understand that as he himself didn't want any recognition yet. He didn't need it during his travels.

Placing the bowl down, Harry walked into the building to see what else was in the shop. Maybe he would find something useful again, just like the last time.

"Are you looking for something particular?" asked a voice behind Harry that he instantly recognized.

The young wizard chuckled quietly before answering, "Oh yes. A particularly annoying old man that I met in Asshai. Maybe you know him," after the last sentence, Harry turned around and lowered his hood.

"Harry?" Maran asked wide-eyed, "Dear gods, and here I thought that it was another of those fucking red priests."

"Oh?" Harry raised an eyebrow, "They still trouble you?"

The older man waved him off, "It is not important now. I want to hear what you were doing during all those years. Come to the backroom, I need to close the shop and we can talk."

Harry nodded in agreement and walked through the backdoors. There he sat down on one of the chairs by the table and waited, he could already guess that it was going to be a very long talk.

_**"I am going to introduce you,"**_ Harry informed his companion suddenly.

_**"You trust him that much?" **_ the surprised voice of Ralnor asked after a second.

_**"I do," **_he reassured, _**"The old man helped me when I was in Asshai and I lived with him for a long time. If I had to name one living person I trust in this world, it would be Maran."**_

_ **"If you are sure then I am not going to argue."** _

_**"Thank you," **_Harry sent back just as Maran entered the room. The man again observed Harry for a moment before a frown appeared on his face, "Something's wrong Maran?"

"Your magic," he answered uncertainly, "It has changed and I am quite sure that it is almost impossible. Plus you look almost like a grown-up man and you are not even five and ten. What the hell happened to you?"

Harry ran a hand through his hair, "Better sit down, it is going to take some time to explain."

Maran nodded and sat down, he was still confused, but hopefully, he would understand in a moment.

Harry leaned back in his chair and began, "Let me start with that happened in Leng as there I found something very interesting..." and so Harry slowly explained everything that happened on the island of Leng. When he finally got to the part of the aftermath of Harry's and Ralnor's fight, Maran finally asked.

"So what happened to him? You said that you somehow bonded with him, but I can't see him anywhere."

Harry released a heavy sigh and mentally told Ralnor to materialize. Both companions chuckled a bit when they saw Maran's reaction. At least they got some amusement from this whole situation.

Finally, Maran woke up from his shock and stood up to greet the new occupant of the room, "It is a pleasure to meet you, I really should have expected that Harry would find someone like you in his travels," Ralnor returned the short greeting and both men sat down again, "So I guess that he is the cause of the change to your magic," Maran said again addressing Harry.

"Mostly," the youngest wizard admitted, "There was one event a few moons ago that made my magic what it is today."

"Speak then, don't make the old man wait," Maran prodded his young friend.

Harry again nodded and went back to explaining his travels. He went through his small adventure in Yi Ti, his stay in Yin, and some of the things he learned during this time. It was when Harry mentioned traveling to the north of Yi Ti that Maran again interrupted him.

"You traveled through the plains of Jogos Nhai? Are you mad? The tribes there are the equivalent of Dothraki in this part of Essos but are said to be even more ferocious in battle. Not even magic would save you in a fight against the whole tribe," The older man almost shouted during his short speech.

"Calm down Maran," Harry said with a hint of steel in his voice, "I know that sometimes I might be reckless, but I am not that stupid to search for a fight with an army. I mostly traveled in my animagus form and we kept the wards up when I slept."

Maran breathed a sigh of relief, "You can't blame me for worrying, you seem to find yourself in the most unusual situations. A fight with an army wouldn't surprise me nowadays... Anyway, why did you want to even go there? The Thousand Islands?"

"This was the plan in the beginning, but it all changed when I arrived in...

* * *

_Nefer, named by travelers as the Secret City, the capital of N'ghai or rather the last city of the once small kingdom. The tribes of Jogos Nhai destroyed every other village or city in their raids or attacks.  
_

_Harry never found too much information about the city, but if he was to believe the rumors then it was home for necromancers and torturers. Harry really doubted that it was the truth, but he would see for himself in just a few minutes as he was currently entering the city through its main gates._

_Surprisingly the guards didn't even stop him to check who Harry was, and the wizard was quite confused. What city, which was repeatedly raided by savage tribes would have such a poor defense. If it wasn't for the high stone walls and the rumored magicians, the city would have probably fallen a long time ago._

_The sight that greeted Harry inside wasn't something that he ever expected. He knew that those rumors must have come from somewhere, but this was something else._

_The streets of the city were quite populated and this was understandable, as after all this was the only big city in these parts of the world. But it was the sight of creatures that Harry never saw before, that made the young wizard shocked._

_All of them were of a darker color, be it grey, black or dark red. Most of them resembled animals that had some additional limbs or body parts that Harry never saw on animals. There were also others that had some resemblance to humans, but with the same additional parts. _

_Still, as Harry observed each of those creatures more closely, he realized one thing they all had in common._

_They were all animated corpses. This was quite easy to spot as each of those creatures had at least one spot where Harry could see rotted body parts or even complete lack of them. This fact told Harry that the rumors about necromancers were true. The question was how many people could wield this type of magic here and what exactly were those creatures._

** _"Demons,"_ ** _ said the quiet voice of Ralnor in Harry's mind, **"I only know of them from some rare scrolls that my people once possessed. Normally those creatures were only legends of the Mossovy forest, but it turns out that they are real."**_

_Harry stiffened a bit at the mention of Demons, his old-world also known those creatures from myths, and even the magical community believed them to be creations of imagination. Harry wondered why people had chosen this particular name for those creatures. Was it the appearance, abilities, or something else?  
_

** _"So the forest has more of those creatures?"_ ** _ Harry asked to make sure._

** _"Probably, but if you want to be sure, we should probably gather information here. After all, those necromancers reanimated them,"_ ** _ Ralnor said after a bit of thought. He didn't know more about those creatures. Only bits and pieces of what he read centuries ago._

_Harry nodded in agreement, information first, action later._

* * *

"So the rumors are true," Maran said after a moment of silence, "People never believed those traders that were brave enough to visit the Secret City. I was quite sure that something was wrong with the Mossovy forest, but I could never get any confirmation. Most of the people who travel to those lands never come back."

Harry drummed his fingers on the table, "Nefer was certainly an interesting place. While full of necromancers, the people there were surprisingly nice. I don't know about the torturers, but they probably kept their hobby to themselves. Apart from that, the city was full of demon hunters."

"So those people went to Mossovy on their own free will, to hunt beasts that could kill them?" Maran asked incredulously.

Harry and Ralnor chuckled loudly, "For them, it is like hunting animals, only a lot more dangerous."

"And let me guess, you decided to do some hunting yourself," Maran stated more than asked.

Harry's wide grin was enough of an answer for the older man, "You know me too well old man."

* * *

_It had been almost a week since Harry arrived in Nefer and he and Ralnor were finally ready for some action. _ _They tried to gather as much information as they could during they stay and to be honest, they were surprised by some of the things they found. _

_Nefer's sinister reputation was definitely wrong - if you ignored all the necromancers and demons running around -, personally Harry thought that people in the city were quite nice. Maybe a bit distant and guarded, but still nice. Even if Harry always had his hood up people didn't care, but that wasn't really surprising as almost half of the population hid their faces.  
_

_Harry had even managed to talk with an older necromancer, who again was a pleasant conversationalist. He explained to Harry how anyone in Nefer who could wield magic, became a necromancer at a young age and then went to Mossovy to gain their minions. Not every magician came back from the forest, but people thought about this process as an unofficial trial of passage. _

_Harry and Ralnor thought that it was a bit stupid as this way they lost some of their magic-users, but Harry didn't voice his opinion. It wasn't his place to question their traditions._

_Finally, the man told him about the demon hunters. Those always went in small groups to either kill demons that were trying to expand their territory outside Mossovy or when the hunters wanted to practice. _

_Harry of course asked the man where he could sign up for such a hunt and that was why the young wizard was currently traveling in company with three others to the borders of the forest. _

_After his long stay in Yi Ti Harry really wanted to test himself against some stronger opponents and he hoped that he would find them here. He didn't need to hide most of his magic as those people were used to it, so at least he would _ _be able to go all out._

* * *

"The demons on the edges of the forests were quite weak. A well-placed strike to the head killed most of the smaller ones and weaker elemental attacks took care of the stronger ones," Harry explained the beginning of his journey into Mossovy, "Don't get me wrong, they were strong. And an average foot soldier would probably have some problems with defeating one of them, but I had both magic and my skill with swords at my side that I trained with for years. I expected to deal with them quickly."

"But we might have gotten a bit too confident and we paid the price later on," Ralnor added with a wince.

Maran sighed in exasperation, "Of course you would, but you are still sitting before me so I guess that like always you managed to get out."

"Something like that," Harry mumbled out with hands covering his face. It definitely was one of his worst days.

* * *

_Harry definitely should have expected something like that. Lately, his luck was quite good and it was high time for everything to fall apart. His and Ralnor's overconfidence certainly didn't help. Maybe it was the lack of his usual dangerous adventures that caused this, but Harry with his old and new experiences should have known better._

_At first, their hunt was going pretty well, Harry was even having some fun in fighting those twisted creatures and he was glad to finally be able to test himself. Ralnor was slightly bored, but Harry promised his companion that he could materialize after they got a bit deeper into the forest._

_The three other hunters were slightly in awe how easily Harry killed some of the demons, but they still did their job and helped when a particular big horde came rushing at the group._

_Unfortunately, the fun came to a quick end when Harry heard one of the hunters shout a warning about an Alpha and a small horde. The wizard knew what those were as the hunters explained it to him during their trip._

_Alpha was a demon that was much stronger and usually bigger than a normal demon. They were quite rare and if one showed itself, the hunters would always need the help of at least five necromancers to put it down. _

_Harry knew that if one attacked them now, then the normal hunters would most likely die, "Kill the smaller ones, I will stall the Alpha until you deal with them!"_

_Maybe it wasn't the best course of action, but it at least gave the hunters a chance to survive and then help Harry. Besides Ralnor would be able to finally help him so they might have a chance of killing it on their own._

_The other hunters surprisingly listened to Harry's orders and left him to deal with the approaching monster that finally walked into the clearing.  
_

_"Ready Ralnor?" Harry asked as his companion's transparent form materialized next to him and took the obsidian short sword from Harry.  
_

_The older man gave him a small smirk, "Let's see what this thing is capable of."_

_The monster definitely deserved its Alpha title. It had the build of and overgrown panther - almost as tall as Harry -, with sharp, visible claws, red eyes, spikes at some parts of its body, and pitch-black fur. Apart from that, the demon had three long tails instead of one and each of them was bladed at its end. Harry was quite sure that even his armor would have problems with withstanding a hit from one of them._

_That was why Harry activated his reinforcement magic to boost his physical capabilities and Ralnor instantly backed off when they saw the beast move. _

_At first, both Harry and Ralnor tried to hurt the demon with their long-range elemental attacks. Those did some damage, but it didn't stop it from attacking Harry who was closer to it._

_Because of this fact, Harry didn't have enough time to use more complicated attacks and Ralnor was struggling to keep up with the beast's speed. Even though Harry grew stronger in the last year, he still couldn't support Ralnor's full strength._

_Harry mostly focused on dodging the attacks as he was pretty sure that even with his reinforcement, he wouldn't be able to overpower the beast. He was good, but not that good._

_Finally, Ralnor managed to knock the beast of its feet with a few well-placed earth pillars. Harry quickly used that moment to draw Ralnor's old short-sword, put it on fire, and slice through one of the demon's tails._

_The severed limb instantly fell down and Harry didn't have enough time to dodge the second tail that came at him as the demon released an enraged howl._

_The young wizard was thrown back a few feet back and he instantly felt pain in his chest. The impact probably broke one of his ribs and while Harry was used to fighting in much worse condition, it would still be annoying._

_Meanwhile, Ralnor used this moment to erect a wall between Harry and the demon as the beast decided to send some of its spikes at Harry's lying form._

_"Get up! This fucker can fire spikes from its body," Ralnor shouted to get Harry moving._

_Harry quickly nodded in thanks and got up. He used the wall to quickly gather some more magic and then he directed it into the earth. _ _The demon didn't even get any time to react before a dozen ice spears emerged from the ground and flew at it. _

_Satisfied with his job Harry watched as Ralnor sent two earth golems to fight the demon. He wasn't stupid enough to waste this time just on watching as Harry was again preparing his magic to send one of his most powerful techniques.  
_

_He never got his chance to fire as the beast, even in its injured state, danced between the two golems and bypassed them completely. Before the older man could dodge, the demon buried its claws in Ralnor's body. Never before was he fatally injured and both Ralnor and Harry had no clue what would happen._

_As Ralnor's body dematerialized, Harry felt even stronger pain in his chest, **"Ralnor, what the fuck is going on!"**_

**_"It appears that I can't die, but after my form gets killed, some of the injuries will be applied to you,"_** _he answered in a grim tone. It definitely wasn't something they wanted to find out on the battlefield. _

** _"How the hell it got so fast?! Can you even materialize again?"_ ** _ Harry shouted in his mind as he again barely dodged another of the demon's attacks._

** _"It is probably some kind of the last resort. It is fatally injured after all the attacks we used on it and now it is just using all of its strength to kill us both. And I can materialize again, but I might be much weaker,"_ ** _ Ralnor answered as quickly as he could._

_It definitely wasn't what Harry wanted to hear. He knew that he was heavily bleeding and if they didn't finish the demon fast then he would die. The strain on his muscles from using so much of reinforcement magic wasn't helping either._

** _"Alright, I will try to stop it for a moment, you will need to do the rest,"_ ** _ after Harry received a mental nod, he cut the link off and reached into one of his pouches. Harry knew that none of his recreated spells would work on the beast, they were too slow and required too much focus. Besides Harry didn't have time to check if the demon had some magic resistance. That was why his elemental magic was a safe bet, even if the demon was tanking every hit.  
_

_Decided on the next step Harry took out a handful of small obsidian stones from the pouch. Then he gathered magic for another attack and turned around to face the demon. _

_The best was not that far away from Harry and it visibly prepared to shoot its spikes. The wizard used this moment the create a shield of pure fire before him. It was one of Harry's harder techniques, but now it would be perfect._

_All of the spikes dissolved in the fire so Harry threw the small stones at the barrier and quickly shielded his face. _ _The world exploded in light and Harry knew from the beast's howl that it definitely was affected. _

_Not wasting any more time Harry gave a mental signal to his companion and rushed at the beast. Both of his in-born elements swirled around Harry as he sent even more projectiles along with some bombarda charms at the disoriented demon. After the act was done the wizard fell to the ground exhausted and injured._

_Ralnor knew that it was his only chance to act so he materialized with the last bits of magic available to them both and grabbed his fallen sword. In record time, he cleared the distance between him and the demon, and drove the shortsword through the beast's head, finally killing it._

_The old magician then felt his form disappearing again and knew that he only had a moment before he would disappear forever along with his companion._

** _"Ralnor! The potion, quickly!" _ ** _as the realization settled in his mind, Ralnor rushed to Harry and quickly pulled out the potion that could save them both. _ _Harry drank it without a question and Ralnor watched in awe as every wound on Harry's body disappeared and his magic began to replenish faster. _

_Harry chuckled tiredly, "At least the elf was right."_

* * *

"You almost died and needed to use the potion," Maran deadpanned, dragging a hand through his face, "Still, how in the gods' name did it manage to almost defeat two powerful mages."

"You weren't there Maran, this demon was much faster than anything I ever fought and it just wouldn't die! I couldn't even use my more powerful attacks as they take more time and focus to create. In a fight against another soldier or mage, it wouldn't be a problem, but against the demon, it was a pain," Harry explained before pointing at his companion, "And Ralnor couldn't use too much of his power before I took the potion. Even now he still can't use his full power, but we are getting there. Besides, while I had my reinforcement, Ralnor couldn't use it as he is made out of magic. We are still working on finding an alternative."

Maran slumped in his chair, "I guess it is understandable... Now tell me what did the potion exactly do to you?"

"It definitely made my connection to magic stronger, both my elemental magic and spells are easier to use. Like you see it made me grow a bit faster, but I was tall even before taking this potion so I am still not sure about it. Apart from that, I didn't notice any more changes," Harry said with a shrug at the end.

"Also, I can now access a lot more magic and my form is almost completely solid," Ralnor added.

Maran shook his head at the casual tone his two guests had, "I don't even know how to comment that so I will just ask, do you have any more tales like this one for me?"

"Not really. After our adventure in the forest, we slowly began to travel in the direction of Braavos. We stopped here and there, but no encounter was as dangerous as the one in Mossovy. We mostly trained to be prepared in case of another fight like that. We did not know how to fight a mad beast that was slightly intelligent."

The old man breathed a sigh of relief, "Good, good. I am too old to listen to shit like this. Now, I am sure that you have something planned next. What is it?"

Harry shrugged again, "We will stay in Braavos for a few more days, but after that, I was hoping that you knew someone who would take me behind the Wall."

Maran palmed his face, "Of course you would want to go there..."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those interested, I will add another story of mine on this site a bit after this chapter appears. It is an HP/Avenger crossover called "Road to Power". If any of you are interested, I will gladly welcome your opinions.


	15. Secrets of the world

"Give me one good reason why would you want to go beyond the wall. Only snow and wildlings await you there. Besides you always told me that Westeros wasn't a place you wanted to visit anytime soon," Maran stated as he tried to understand why his definitely not normal friend would want to go to a land where nothing special awaited him.

"It is a bit... complicated," Harry replied with a heavy sigh.

"I have time," Maran retorted with a raised eyebrow.

Harry groaned loudly so Ralnor decided to save his companion from explaining, "We are not really sure what it's all about. But something is trying to communicate with us from beyond the wall."

"How?" the old man asked, "From what I know there is nothing ther that could possibly accomplish such a feat. Not that I am some kind of professional historian of Westeros, but still. The only thing that comes to my mind is the children of the forest, but none of the legends say about an ability to communicate with random people between large distances."

"Whatever or whoever it is, they possess the ability to invade dreams even when we were in Yi Ti. And they always show Harry one thing. A large weirwood tree in the land of snow," Ralnor informed his new ally, "Normally we would ignore it and continue with our travels, but those dreams got stronger and stronger with time."

"There was no day when I could rest peacefully," Harry continued after a moment, "Always when I go to sleep I dream about this bloody tree. It got frustrating. very fast. Besides I really want to know who the hell has enough power to do such a thing. That, and kick their ass for annoying me."

Maran chuckled loudly, "Of course. Why did I expect anything else from you? So you need someone who would take you behind the wall or just close to it?"

Harry reached into his bag and took out a large roll of paper. With a few quick gestures, the map of Westeros and some parts of Essos unrolled and took most of the space on the table.

"While I would love to get transport beyond the Wall, I know that no one is mad enough to sail there without a good reason," Harry said after pointing at the area of The Haunted Forest, "But I would be happy with transport to the Bay of Seals. The closer to the Eastwatch, the better. I want to get there as fast as I can and while my animagus form could help. It is still quite taxing on my magic if I use it for too long."

Maran hummed lightly as he looked at the map, "You are right that no one would take you beyond the Wall, but if you give me a few days then I might get you a boat to the Eastwatch or at least close to it. I just hope you have enough gold to pay the crew, the Bay of Seals isn't the safest place."

Harry waved him off, "Money is the latest of my problems. I gathered enough during my travels and never really bought anything expensive. I am pretty sure that I can pay for one trip."

Maran shrugged in return, "It is your money... Now, how do you like Braavos?"

"Since our departure from Yin, we definitely didn't see anything as grand. Even then, Braavos is definitely unique. I am just worried that one day the city will drown like some parts of it already did," Ralnor responded when he saw that Harry was occupied with putting the map away.

"I don't think that people really care about it. They probably know that there are small chances of it happening in their lifetime so there is no real reason to worry. Not that they can do anything about it. This problem is beyond human capabilities," Maran said.

Both Harry and Ralnor nodded as this was quite true. No one had the power to stop those natural occurrences. It was just the way of the world.

"Oh well, you are welcome to stay here until I find your transport. There is a free room on the second floor. Just please, don't destroy anything. I saw what happened in Qarth and I really don't need more excitement in my life," Malnor stated after a moment of silence before walking out of the room to open the shop again.

Harry winced at the remark.

**"He got you there," **Ralnor said with a chuckle after he disappeared from the real world, **"So what now? The House of Black and White?"**

"The House of Black and White," Harry confirmed and left the room.

* * *

_Any ideas on how should we do this?_ Harry asked his companion after they arrived before the mysterious building.

To be honest they both didn't know much about The House of Black and White. Yes, Harry could feel Death's presence clinging to the building, giving it a very uncomfortable aura. They also knew that it was the base of the infamous assassins that apparently could change faces. There were other rumors they heard of the House, but those were only that, rumors.

They only hoped that due to Harry's connection to Death, the assassins wouldn't try to kill them instantly.

**"I think that a slow approach with our senses extended should be enough. Maran told us that people could visit this place without any danger," **Ralnor finally said as Harry slowly approached the white and black doors.

_If the tales about them are to be believed, then they might know about my magic. Who knows how they will react to someone like us. _Harry pointed out as he ran a hand over the white part of the doors. If he was right then it was created out of weirwood. Magic clung tightly to the wood and Harry smiled lightly as one of his theories was just confirmed.

Ralnor sent his companion a mental nod, **"True. Just be careful and prepare to run at any moment. And remember you are not alone."**

Harry took a deep breath and carefully opened one side of the doors, just enough to be able to slip inside. After slowly closing the door, Harry turned around to take a look at the interior of the building.

Currently, Harry was in a very large hallway, which roof was so high, that due to the lack of light he couldn't see. That was another problem, the darkness all around him. While Harry didn't have any problems with moving through the night, it was completely different when he was in a building that expelled the aura of Death.

Still, it wasn't enough to make Harry turn around and the wizard began to walk forward, following the light of the candles. At least it wasn't completely dark...

After about a minute of walking, Harry finally arrived at a large room that was probably the main part of the building.

If Harry had to give the room a name, it would be Sanctuary. It was huge enough to be one, it had multiple large stones statues that from what Harry saw resembled deities from almost every religion around the world. Specifically, they were gods that represent death and the unknown. The Stranger from the Faith of the Seven, The Black Goat of Qohor, and even the Lion of Night that Harry encountered in Yi Ti.

It was definitely a magnificent place with the statues surrounding a large pool of water that was said to give a quick and painless death to those who sought release from this world.

The thing that slightly surprised Harry was the presence of a few people in the room.

Most of them wore black robes that covered their entire bodies, Harry assumed that those were the few priests that lived inside the house. Apart from them, the wizard also noticed a couple of civilians that were praying before the statues for their respective gods.

**"Interesting place, isn't it?" **Ralnor spoke after as Harry stopped before the statue of the Lion of the Night.

_That it is, _Harry responded softly, _Do you feel it?_

**"The change of the aura?" **at Harry's confirmation he continued,** "I do. Any remains of the deathly aura disappeared as soon as we stepped into this room. Now everything is so..."**

_Peaceful, _Harry finished after a moment.

After this short conversation, both companions remained silent, enjoying the peaceful atmosphere. Meanwhile, Harry slowly inspected every part of the large sanctuary and it was the moment he stopped before the pool when Harry heard a voice behind him.

"A man never thought that he would encounter someone like you," the male voice stopped for a moment, giving enough time for Harry to turn around and face the new speaker.

It was another of those people garbed in robes, but this time Harry could see the man's face. It was old, marred by wrinkles and a few scars. Besides that, it was completely plain.

"You were touched by the Many-Faced God and yet, you still walk amongst the living. Normally a man would give you the gift of death, but he can see that it would be going against the will of our God," the old man finished his monologue and stared at Harry intently.

"Thank you, whoever you are. I think?" Harry replied hesitantly. So it was one of Faceless Men or at least Harry thought so. Somehow the old man could feel Death's presence on him, that was quite alarming. It could cause problems in the future.

_At least he doesn't want to kill me..._

"A man has no name," he said almost robotically like the phrase was so deeply installed in his mind that it was an automatic response. It freaked the wizard more than he was willing to admit.

"Right..." Harry murmured and turned around to look at the pool again. A moment later the old man joined him.

"What a man released by Death seek in The House of Black and White. Is it a request for the Faceless Men to deliver a gift, maybe the need to find the embrace of Death again or the want to join and become the true follower of the Many-Faced God?" The man spoke slowly but his voice carried no emotion. It unnerved Harry and Ralnor even more.

"No," the young wizard replied, "I wanted to visit the temple of the one God, I know to exist. That and to see if the rumors about your order are true."

"Rumors?" a male voice spoke again, but it was a bit different than earlier. This simple change made Harry turn his head to meet the new, but old speaker.

Instead of the older man that stood there just a second ago, a young man took his place. His face possessed traits that one could spot in nobility and not even one imperfection graced his skin.

Harry took a step back in shock, before quickly calming himself.

"Yes, those rumors," Harry said with his heart still beating a bit faster. He didn't expect a demonstration of someone changing faces just like that. No one could blame him for such a reaction, even Ralnor was completely quiet.

"A man sees that you finally understand," the Faceless Man turned around and spoke for the last time before walking away, "As long as Death's touch hangs around you, Faceless Men won't accept any requests for your person. But remember, Valar Morghulis."

Harry watched the man walk away, a small smile stretching on his face, "'All men must die' eh? Interesting saying, haven't heard it in a long time."

And with that Harry also began walking in the direction of the exit. He found what he wanted and received confirmation that the Faceless Men weren't a threat to him.

There was nothing left for him in the House of Black and White.

* * *

"All in all, I think we are going to be the best of friends," Harry said with a grin after he finished recounting their trip to the Hous of Black and White to Maran. Of course, it would be too good if refrained from one last sarcastic comment.

Ralnor deadpanned at his companion and murmured, "Friends my ass..."

"Interesting..." Maran said more to himself than to anyone else, "I have never heard of such occurrence. Faceless Men will assassinate anybody if you can pay the price. For them to say that they won't accept any requests for your head... You said something about 'touched by Death', maybe the man referred to your connection with Ralnor or your near-death in Mossovy?"

Both Harry and Ralnor sighed as Maran began to create his theories. The youngest wizard in the room never told his first friend of his resurrection in this world and he didn't plan to. The fewer people knew, the better. If Ralnor never saw his memories then no one would ever know. Unfortunately, the choice was taken out of his hands after their... surprising bonding.

"Maybe," Harry shrugged, "We will never be sure, but at least I don't need to worry about assassins who can change their faces. That's a scary ability. At least I can feel the magic if an illusionist tried something like that, but those Faceless Men do this without even releasing an ounce of magic. I will need to find some way to identify them. I might be safe, but they can always target people that I know."

The other two occupants of the room nodded in agreement. Faceless Men were too dangerous to just ignore them completely.

"I would love to help you, but I have zero experience with things like that," Maran said after a moment.

Harry waved him off, "That's fine. I doubt that we will come up with an idea without a few more encounters with them. Also some information on how their ability works would be nice, but it could wait. For now, tell me, did you find anybody who could get us to Westeros?"

Maran nodded, "I did. A small crew is willing to take you near the Eastwatch, but their price is very high. It will cost you a big chunk of the gold you have told me about. Are you sure you don't want to take a normal ship to White Harbor and just go from there? It will be cheaper and a lot safer."

Harry shook his head, "As I said, money is not a problem. I can always earn more later. I want to be done with this as fast as I can. When can we depart?"

The older man sighed heavily, "If that's what you want, I will bring you to them in three days. Just remember to keep your glamour on your hair. A few of the crew members are from Westeros and you know how some of them are about anybody with Valyrian features."

The younger wizard snorted, "No need to worry, at this point keeping my cover is a second nature. Sometimes I wonder why I even do that," he said standing up while Ralnor disappeared from the room, "I am going to get some rest. We will talk later."

* * *

Three days later Maran led Harry to the docs where the crew was waiting for the latter arrival.

"Are you coming back to Braavos after your short visit or do you have any other plans?" Maran asked as they neared the port.

"I most likely will. I plan on going to Myr when I come back, but I will pay you a visit before beginning my trip. I heard of some changes that were happening ther and I wanted to see what was going on for myself," Harry answered casually.

"That's right, I heard something about a new magister that apparently gained a lot of control in the city. Unfortunately, I don't know anything else," Maran stated after a moment of thought.

Their conversation was cut short as the duo finally arrived before a quite small ship. Maran led his friend to a middle-aged man that was waiting near the boat and after a quick introduction and goodbyes, Harry was again leaving on another of his adventures.

The first three weeks of the trip were quiet and Harry spent most of those days in his private cabin. He didn't have anything against the crew, but their characters weren't what Harry would call friendly.

That was fine as long as the crew did their job and got Harry where he wanted. Besides Harry needed some privacy to inscribe the warming runes to his cloak. While his armor was good, it didn't really provide him with protection against cold. A small mistake that Harry would need to fix after he came back. It would take too much time to do it now.

Unfortunately, their peaceful journey ended when the ship finally sailed into the Bay of Seals.

The Capitan warned Harry that it was usual for the tribes of Skagos to try to attack some ships that passed through the bay. Harry really hoped that just once luck would be on his side, but like always it was not meant to be.

As their ship was easy prey, the Skagosi launched an attack during one of the nights.

Unfortunately due to the slow speed of Harry's boat and the darkness all around them, the crew noticed the enemy ship too late. The Skagosi used this to perform a quick boarding and Harry for the second time in his life was a participant in a pirate attack.

Thankfully the crew was more skilled than Harry thought.

After a long and tiring flight, most of the Skagosi were killed while a few others decided in a moment of wisdom to jump into the water.

That didn't end well for them.

The crew only lost one member and after they got rid of the bodies and took care of the Skagosi ship, they resumed their travel. Harry wasn't really surprised that the rest of the crew didn't really care about the death of one of their own.

From the time he spent with them, Harry managed to gather that, while they worked together, it was only business.

The rest of the journey went without a hitch and a few days later Harry was standing on the snowy ground of Westeros. Even though he was still quite far from the Wall, he still could see it in the distance.

With only one look at it, Harry knew that there was no way this thing was created without the use of magic. Humans in this world might have created some magnificent things, but this? This was beyond their capabilities.

_Oh well, let's see what you really are._

And with that Harry transformed into his animagus form.

* * *

"I didn't expect this," Ralnor said as he materialized next to Harry after the younger wizard landed on the Wall.

It wasn't an easy flight with the weather and the height of this thing, but after spending most of his magical power Harry finally managed to reach the top. Thankfully Harry chose a place where the Night Watch wouldn't come so at least he could rest for a bit.

"Me too," Harry answered, still breathing hard, "I knew that the Wall was supposed to protect the South from wildlings or creature of legends if some of the stories are to be believed. But a magical barrier? What the hell is in those lands to require something so powerful?"

Ralnor shook his head, "I have no clue. The question is, what happened to the threat if they needed to create a barrier."

"I don't want to jinx it so let's just get down and ignore this depressing thought for a moment. I need to get some rest before we go searching for the tree," Harry said and again transformed.

The flight down was much faster and soon Harry landed at the beginning of the Haunted forest. Unfortunately, when he tried to feel the magic around him and maybe locate the direction of the tree, Harry noticed something very wrong with his magic.

_Ralnor, _Harry thought to get the attention of his companion, _We've got a problem. I almost can't feel the connection to my ice magic anymore._

**"Fuck."**

* * *

_For the first time in many months, Harry didn't dream about the giant weirwood tree. There was no snow, only the warm rays of the sun that were coming through the window of a small room._

_It took Harry a moment to recognize this place, but when he did, he was even more confused. Why was he seeing the room that he awoke to when he was transported to this world. _

_"It was there that everything changed Harry Blackfyre," spoke an older voice behind him. _

_Harry quickly turned around and came face to face with a very old man. His face was more wrinkled than Harry thought was possible and the man had last bits of grey hair on his head. His black clothes definitely saw better days._

_"I always knew about you, but I also saw what would happen to you. Death. And then one day you just woke up and your entire future was changed. Changed so much then even I can't perceive it perfectly," the man continued his monologue, "I await your arrival boy. Now defend yourself!"_

With those simple words, Harry was knocked out of his dream and reality again appeared before his eyes. He was back in the small stone hut that Ralnor created for the night. It was also protected by every ward that Harry could create. He knew that the land beyond the Wall was dangerous, so it was better to be safe than sorry.

**"Get up, something is coming," **came the alarmed voice of Ralnor.

"I saw the person who was slipping into my dreams," Harry informed his companion as he quickly got up and gathered his gear.

**"This conversation will need to wait a bit. We got company and whatever they are, they are large."**

_Great,_ Harry groaned and slowly moved to the exit of his temporary shelter.

When Ralnor lowered one of the walls Harry instantly slipped out and had to quickly perform a dodge as a projectile of frozen air flew just above his head. After Harry finally regained his composure he drew one of his shortswords while throwing the other one to Ralnor who just materialized next to him. There was no point in hiding their magic and Harry really doubted that their enemy really cared about it.

_I love my life,_ Harry thought as he took a look at his new opponents.

To describe them shortly Harry could just say that those were spiders that attacked them. Huge and menacing spiders that could shoot a small blast of frozen air, but spiders nonetheless. Harry was pretty sure that somewhere Death had a blast watching him now.

_It is Forbidden Forest all over again, _he thought amused as the memories of Acromantulas flashed before his eyes. He could really live without encountering another species of giant and murderous spiders again.

Thankfully Harry only spotted two of those monsters and after a quick nod to his companion, they went to fight their respective foes. Harry quickly ignited his sword while Ralnor created a stone golem to help him in the fight.

Unlike their fight against the Alpha demon in Mossovy, the two magicians didn't waste any time in using their more powerful moves to gain an advantage in the battle.

Harry let the magic flow through his body to boost his physical capabilities while sending a large wave of fire at his ice spider. The creature was faster than Harry expected, but the flames still managed to scorch two of its legs.

The creature hissed loudly making Harry smirk, at least this time he had a large advantage.

Meanwhile, Ralnor used his golem to take the spider's attention from him, and then the older mage proceeded to bombard the spider with his ever-expanding earth attacks.

Their respective battles didn't take long and a few minutes later only mutilated and burned corpses of the spiders remained.

"That was certainly interesting," Ralnor said as he removed his sword from the spider's body, "I don't think that we read about such creatures anywhere."

Harry looked at his burned enemy and shrugged, "Doesn't really matter. I fought against something similar in my old life so it wasn't anything new. There was just a lot more of them back then..."

"Good to know," Ralnor said dryly, "Now what was that about the person who was sending you the dreams?"

Harry nodded, "I can track his presence now, let's go, it is not that far."

* * *

"This is it," Harry murmured as he stood some distance from the ancient and massive weirwood tree with a face carved on its trunk. Its roots went far in every direction, but whet interested Harry the most was the entrance to a cave that was stationed directly beneath the tree.

Like the Wall, this place was saturated in magic. It wasn't too powerful, but it was enough to let Harry know of its presence.

Slowly Harry began to approach the entrance to the cave. As soon as he got close a small humanoid creature appeared at its entrance. Harry took a quick look and thought that the creature held some resemblance to house-elves from his old life.

The disproportionately large and expressive eyes, small stature, and the color of its skin. Apart from that the rest of their appearance was closer to humans and it took a bit to recognize what it was.

_Child of the Forest, so they really exist, _Harry thought as he got closer and closer, but always ready to react in case the Child decided to attack him.

"Follow me," the creature spoke in a female voice, "He is waiting for you."

Harry shrugged and did as he was told. He might be going into an unknown, but he was quite sure that he wouldn't have a problem getting out if something went wrong.

Finally, they came upon a slightly bigger chamber. There Harry needed to do a double-take when he noticed something very disturbing stationed in the roots of the tree.

It was a pale, skeletal man in rotted black clothing. His skin was white, aside from a red blotch on his neck and cheek. He had only small bits of grey hair that looked completely out of place. One of his eyes was missing, while the other was red. Weirwood roots surrounded the man and grew through his body, including his leg and the empty eye socket.

All in all, it was a far cry from the man Harry saw in his dream.

"I have been waiting for a long time to meet you Harry Blackfyre and Ralnor of Leng," the skeletal figure rasped out, "Your continued existence changed the game and I don't even know why."

Harry froze for a second before narrowing his eyes at the figure, "Who are you? And how do you know about us?"

"I was called many names. The three-eyed raven, the last greenseer," then man then chuckled or at least Harry thought that it was supposed to be a chuckle, "But in the past, I was named Brynden Rivers."

"The Bloodraven," Harry whispered.

"Ah yes, my lovely title. It has been a long time since I heard it," the man said quietly, "But that's not important. You asked me how I know about you. Tell me do you know what a greenseer is?"

Harry shook his head, he studied some parts of the history of Westeros, but he never went that deep.

"Not surprising," Brynden continued, "A greenseer is a person who was gifted with powerful magical ability to perceive the past, present, and future through visions and time travel with ease. There is more to the title, but unfortunately, I didn't receive the rest of the gifts."

Harry almost groaned when he heard about the ability to see the future. He had enough of this shite in his last life.

"Let us assume that I believe you," Harry said, "Why did you want to meet us, I am quite sure that there is more than to that than just satisfying your curiosity."

The pale man sighed heavily, "As I told you in your dream, you changed everything. You were meant to die when you were eight, leaving the House of Blackfyre without any alive members. Instead, you survived and traveled the world, learning things that most could only dream of. As to why I called you here? I need your help."

Harry looked at the man intently and said apologetically, "I am sorry, but even I can't help your current condition."

Brynden again began to laugh, much to Harry's confusion, "I don't need you to save me. No, I want you to save the world."

That instantly put Harry on guard. He had enough of world-saving as Harry Potter, this time no one would order him around. Still, he was curious what exactly the man was talking about, "Save from what?"

"The Others," Brynden replied ominously, "the White Walkers of legends. Creature of ice and death are awakening. And with them, the Long Night is coming."

Harry's mind instantly flashed back to his visit to the House of The Undying and the vision about a monster made of ice. It appeared that his visions really meant something more...

"And why would you need me? I am sure that there are others who could help you much better than I," Harry retorted, quite annoyed that something was trying to dictate his life again. The prophecy about Voldemort and him was enough. Death promised him a normal life here.

"You are the ice and fire boy," the skeletal figure stated like it explained everything, "You possess abilities that would make the incoming war a lot easier. Don't you want to help people? I saw your life, you are a good man, so why not help?"

"You don't know me!" Harry shouted in anger, "You know nothing about me and I won't let myself get placed in such a position again. Find yourself another hero to play with." he finished more calmly before turning around and beginning to walk out.

"I apologize for my words," Brynden spoke quickly making Harry stop for a moment, "I just hope that when the time comes you will change your mind. Many lives could be saved with your simple decision."

"Just leave me alone," Harry said for the last time before walking out of the cave.

A few minutes went by before Harry heard the voice of his companion for the first time since they arrived at the cave.

**"Did you really meant that?"** Ralnor asked softly referring to Harry's decision, he didn't want to annoy his friend even more.

_I don't know. I don't know anymore..._


	16. Death's promise

He walked through to snowy plains in complete silence. He could just transform into his animagus form and get the hell away from this place, but Harry didn't really want to do anything now. Besides the slow trek helped him with calming his mind.

The reincarnated wizard never thought that he would find himself in a situation like that ever again. Especially after his old life, where a stupid prophecy controlled most of his life.

And here he met a bloody old man that wanted him to again give his life to save the world. Did Death know that this would happen?

Definitely.

Did the entity know what Harry would do in such a situation?

Probably not as even Harry didn't know what to do about this entire situation. He wanted to help, he really did. But was it worth to again put his life on the line? That was a question that Harry didn't know how to answer. He was here to start anew, to have a chance to live his life as he wanted without any prophecies hanging over his head.

It was all a really big mess, that would probably bother Harry for a very, very long time.

Finally, the sound of his companion materializing next to him brought Harry out of his thoughts. The younger wizard raised an eyebrow towards Ralnor in question and waited for him to act.

"Do you want to talk about it?" Ralnor asked after a moment of silence.

Harry knew what his friend meant, but he still tried to play dumb, hoping that the Ralnor would get the hint, "About what?"

The older sorcerer sighed heavily, "We both perfectly know what I am talking about Harry. So I will ask again, do you want to talk about it?"

Harry turned to the road ahead of them and remained silent for a while. Did he really want to touch this subject this early? Probably not, but he knew that it would be better to deal with it now than leave it for later.

Still, he didn't really know how to begin, "Is there really much to talk about? You heard what Bloodraven said and you know of my past experiences with things like that."

"That I do," Ralnor nodded lightly, "Even then if there wasn't anything to talk about, we wouldn't be walking now."

Harry chuckled bitterly, "That's true," he then turned to look at his companion, "Let me ask you this. What would you do if you were in my shoes, after everything that happened in my past life?"

"What would I do eh?" Ralnor repeated quietly, "I didn't know if I can answer this question. Yes, I saw most of your memories, but I didn't live through them. It was you who experienced all of it and unfortunately, it is you that need to make the final choice. Even then it doesn't mean that I can't help you. After all, we are stuck together so I wouldn't be a good companion if I just left you alone."

Harry snorted in response as it was quite true. They were stuck together for the nearest future and he needed to remember that even though the decision was his to make, he wouldn't be alone.

"Thanks," Harry said sincerely, "I will welcome any help you can give."

Ralnor smirked in triumph, at least his companion wasn't brooding anymore, "Good. There are many paths that you can choose from. You could completely ignore what the Bloodraven said and go back to our travels while never coming back to Westeros. Let them deal with their problems."

Harry winced at the proposition and Ralnor smiled in understanding, "Right, this option is definitely out. We both know you couldn't just ignore people dying while we are traveling wherever we want. Truthfully even I wouldn't be able to just ignore something like that, besides I want to see those 'White Walkers of legends'."

Harry groaned at the last comment, "Really? And here I was thinking that it was me that followed every dangerous thing that existed in the world."

Ralnor shrugged, "Try spending centuries trapped in a vault without any excitement. It is obvious that I want to be wherever something interesting will happen. Now going back to my propositions. You could just go back to Bloodraven and listen to all he had to say and then follow his instructions. Who knows, maybe he is sincere."

Harry instantly shook his head, "No. If I am going to do anything about the White Walkers then I will do it my way, without anyone trying to control me."

The older wizard nodded, "Understandable, especially with your previous experiences. Now going with what you just said we come upon the final option. We can continue as we did and help when the time comes. I doubt that the 'Long Night' will come in the nearest years so we definitely have a lot of time to prepare and do whatever you want to do. Remember Harry, you don't need to let this control your life, but it also doesn't mean that you need to ignore it completely. Just find a middle ground that will work the best for you."

With his last bit said, Ralnor dematerialized and left Harry alone in the snowy lands.

Meanwhile, Harry thought about everything his companion said. It made a lot of sense. He didn't need to spend all of his time figuring out how to save this world. Besides, how was he supposed to help now? He was only one man with the spirit of an ancient sorcerer bound to him. Yes, they were powerful, but that would only help when the fighting began.

All in all, Ralnor was right. He needed to find a middle ground that would suit this situation the best.

_"Thank you," _Harry thought before turning into his animagus form and flying towards the Wall.

* * *

**"Is it back?" **Ralnor asked after Harry landed on the top of the Wall. Thankfully the weather was a bit better than the last time so now the visibility was a lot better. Not that it was ever a problem, but it definitely made the trip a lot more enjoyable.

"It is," Harry responded quietly.

Their small exchange was of course about the return of Harry's ice magic. It really was weird that whatever caused the change, stopped at the Wall. They were aware that the wards and enchantments placed in and around the Wall were strong, but this was something else.

"Any ideas to what could have been the cause for my magic to disappear?" Harry asked as he looked to the south of the Wall.

**"Besides those White Walkers? Not really. We don't know enough about those lands to make a correct deduction and I really don't want to believe that those creatures can possess such control over an element," **Ralnor replied after a moment of thought.

"That's what I thought," Harry agreed instantly, "More research is definitely waiting for us. I just hope that Maran has some relevant material as I really don't want to go searching for it."

**"Right. So what now? We are sticking around in Westeros or are we flying back to Braavos?"** Ralnor asked the question that was on his mind for a bit.

Harry frowned and looked at the rising sun, "There is no need for me to fly straight to Essos. After making the trip here, I am pretty sure that I would be able to fly through the Narrow Sea if I focused enough. It would be tiring, but I could make it if we really needed to. Thankfully we aren't in a hurry so we will just do like Maran said and go to White Harbour and get a ship to Braavos. At least it will give us some time to get familiar with a few parts of the North."

**"So we are following the White Knife yes?"** Ralnor questioned to make sure of their travel path.

Harry nodded without responding and transformed again, he wanted to find an inn to rest. He had enough of sleeping on the cold, snowy ground.

* * *

Wizards and witches in Harry's old-world used wands for centuries. It was the most important tool for a magical to have, after all, how would you use magic if you couldn't focus it in the right direction.

It was a subject that Harry researched a bit after the war against Voldemort. He never researched how wands were made, but he was interested in their history and how wizards even used magic before their creation.

He knew that it was possible to use magic wandlessly to some extent, but he never really knew where was the limit as Harry never tried to learn wandless spells. It was a pretty large surprise to find out that in some parts of the world people didn't use wands or preferred other types of foci.

So while wands really helped with focusing your magic, you could still learn to perform most of the spells without it. Of course, it would take much more time, but Harry could see the benefits of such a process.

After all, that was exactly what Harry did when he arrived in this world, even if Death did something so he would be able to use some types of magic wandlessly much easier. Sometimes Harry wondered if he would rather have his old magic and wand back or stay with his current abilities that only grew with time.

Now though, Harry had a very hard task before him.

Building his new wand without any experience in wand-crafting whatsoever. He could already feel the headache that would come in the nearing hours.

They arrived in a very small village an hour ago and after renting a single room in an inn, Harry decided to work on something to get his mind off his more depressing thoughts.

He could work on some new rune matrixes or even recreating more spells, but Harry decided that it was high time to finally try his hand at wand-crafting. After all, he finally gathered a wood that was highly magical and responded well with Harry's own magic.

It turned out that taking a few branches from the colossal Weirwood tree paid off. Now Harry had all the required ingredients and maybe it was time to find a way to combine them to create the long-awaited wand.

Harry still wasn't sure if it would even help with focusing his magic, but it wouldn't hurt to try. There wasn't much to do during their trip to White Harbour so it wasn't like he was wasting time.

With a sigh, Harry reached into his pack and pulled two enchanted bags, one small and the other a bit bigger.

After he opened the first bag he reached in and brought out one Weirwood branch that was about as long as Harry's arm. He had about ten more branches inside as he really doubted that his first try would be successful.

The second bag possessed more precious cargo, at least in Harry's opinion. After all, this was the bag that held any remains of the Alpha Demon that Harry and Ralnor defeated in the Mossovy forest.

Fur, meat, bones, and some organs. They took it all as it was pretty much the first supernatural creature that Harry defeated in this world. The Undying Ones didn't count as Harry's entire trip to the House of the Undying was a mistake...

The young wizard shook his head to banish those thoughts from his head and reached inside the bag.

This time he brought out a pretty large wooden box engraved with runes. Opening it, Harry looked inside and released a breath of relief when he saw that the cargo was still mostly in good condition.

It was a pretty large organ, about half the size of Harry's head. It was completely black with red lines running along its length. Its deformed form would definitely scare people that never saw such things before, but it was expected.

After all, it wasn't every day that you saw the heart of an Alpha Demon.

This part of the large beast responded the best to Harry's magic, so the wizard hoped to use a heartstring while creating a new wand. How he would bend those two ingredients, Harry didn't know, but he could only try and hope that it would work.

"You really have no clue how to do this huh?" Ralnor stated with an amused smirk after he materialized next to Harry.

"I never thought that I would need the knowledge of wand-crafting. My old world had enough people who could make them if mine ever broke," Harry said as his eyebrow twitched in annoyance.

Ralnor chuckled in response, "Calm down, I meant nothing by it. Still, you must have an idea how to start or you wouldn't be even trying."

Harry sighed before shrugging, "I will just form a wand from the Weirwood branch, probably the same length as my previous wand, and then make some space inside it to put the heartstring. I doubt it will work but it is a start. After that, I will try adding some runes and when we get back to Braavos I will speak with Maran. He is much better with enchanting objects than me. If there is anyone who can make it work, it is him."

Ralnor hummed in agreement before falling silent. Harry knowing that this was the end of their short conversation, began his work. He just hoped that he wasn't wasting his time and resources on this.

It took an hour of using magic and a small knife to create something that at least resembled his previous wand. The white color of the Weirwood tree made the wand look a bit better, but without proper tools or spells, it would never be perfect.

Harry was fine with that as long as the wand worked.

Hollowing out the prepared stick of wood was a lot harder. There definitely was a spell for things like that, but Harry couldn't be bothered to create a spell like that from a scratch.

So after another few hours of very careful work, the task was done and Harry finally could place the heartstring inside his new wand. This again required Harry to be very delicate, but at least it went much faster.

At last, Harry fixed the hole in the wand and placed his finished work on the table.

"Will it work?" Ralnor asked, breaking the silence.

Harry frowned lightly, "To be honest I have no clue. I feel some connection with it, but it is nowhere close to the bond with my old wand. Oh well, let's just try and find out eh?"

Ralnor nodded and Harry again took the wand in his hand.

For his first attempt, Harry decided on a very simple spell with an incantation and directed his magic into the wand, "Lumos."

A small light appeared on the tip of the wand and just as Harry smiled in triumph, the light flickered before dying out completely. Frowning Harry pointed the wand at one of his coins and attempted a weak transfiguration.

Again the spell worked in the beginning but the transformation stopped midway. With his frown deepening, Harry canceled the flow of magic and watched in surprise as the almost transfigured object very slowly returned to its basic form.

"Okay, that's new," Harry murmured as he looked at the wand in his hand.

"Certainly," Ralnor said after hearing Harry's reaction, "When you attempted transfiguration before, it always returned to its basic form instantly after you cut off the spell. Here the process was a lot slower. What the hell does it even mean?"

Harry nodded in agreement. Out of all the results, he definitely didn't expect this. The wand obviously worked to some degree, but Harry had no idea what caused it to fail during the spells or why it had such an effect on transfiguration.

"Like you, I have no idea," Harry finally replied, "There is definitely something wrong or lacking in the wand, but at least it is working to some degree. Yeah it could have been better, but I am still happy with what I got. After all, I expected it to fail completely."

"When you put it like that, it makes sense. Anyway you should probably get some rest, it is already late and we got a long trip before us," Ralnor said, before disappearing again to let his companion get some much-needed sleep.

* * *

The journey to White Harbour wasn't too interesting. Even though Westeros was currently enjoying one of their longest summers, the entire north was still pretty chilly. Thankfully the warming runes still worked so Harry didn't mind too much.

What Harry did mind, were the random strong blow of wind that almost made him crash a few times. He might have flown during rain or some weaker storms, but this was something entirely different.

The thought of where the hell those bloody wind came from was running through Harry's mind almost every day. The young wizard was really glad that he decided to fly at a lower altitude or he would have never got past those random currents.

Ralnor was mostly amused by this entire situation, but it also began to annoy him when the winds slowed their travel speed.

The only upside of their trip was their short visit to Winterfell.

The huge castle complex that spanned across serval acres was definitely beautiful. At least to Harry as it made him remember Hogwarts, the one place he would always call home.

Neither Harry nor Ralnor knew much about the ancient castle apart from the fact that it was the seat of power of House Stark, the Wardens of the North, and considered to be the capital of the north.

Inside the walls, the complex was composed of dozens of courtyards and small open spaces. Getting inside wasn't a problem as Harry just needed to find an empty space to land and transform. He didn't stay long, as they only made the stop here to resupply, but at least now Harry could say that he visited one of the most important places in Westeros. Even though he didn't do anything apart from some quick shopping...

After leaving Winterfell, Harry returned to the White Knife as the river lead straight to the White Harbour.

It took Harry two weeks of lazy flying and walking to arrive at the harbor city of the north. It was much larger than Winterfell, but it was expected from a major port.

Harry already had a lot of experience with cities like that, so it didn't take him much time to find a good crew that would be sailing to Braavos in a few days. Now he only needed to wait for it to depart, at least this would give him some time to figure out what was wrong with the wand.

* * *

...And that was all that happened," Harry said after he finished explaining to Maran his latest trip to Westeros. Of course, Harry didn't tell the old man about his reaction to Bloodraven's request as it would raise some questions, Harry didn't want to answer.

Harry's passage through the Narrow Sea back to Braavos was fast and uneventful. With good winds, they managed to arrive back at the Free City in a week, which was almost unheard of. Harry and Ralnor didn't complain as at least one part of their trip was relaxing and now they were back in Maran's shop.

"Bloodraven you say?" Maran spoke after a moment, "Didn't think that I would ever hear this name outside books. The man definitely has a very interesting history, but I would have never thought that he would become a part of a tree and get the abilities of a Greenseer."

"You are not the only one surprised, trust me," Harry said dryly.

Maran waved him off, "Whatever... I am more interested in the White Walkers, if they really exist then they might be a problem. You didn't find anything that would confirm their existence?"

Ralnor shook his head, "We didn't stick around for too long. After Harry was cut off from his ice magic we just decided to get away from this place as soon as we resolved our problem."

"Ah yes, the severed connection. I have no idea what could have caused it. The White Walkers would be a good answer, but I need to search through some of my things to make sure," Maran said after a moment.

"You think you can figure it out?" Harry perked up.

Maran shrugged, "Who knows. There are many legends written down in this world and like we all know there's always a bit of truth in them. I will need to search through some things and probably ask a few people, but I am sure, I can at least give you something. Just give me some time."

Harry released a breath of relief, "That's good to hear. Any kind of information is welcome. Now with this topic done, I have one more thing for you," he said before placing the wand on the table between them.

"What is it?" the old man asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Like I already showed you, I can use a lot of different types of magic. Some of them are pretty easy to use, while the others... not so much. That's why I want to create a tool that would help me focus magic more directly for those spells that need more control. I already created this and while it works to some degree, it is far from what I want," Harry explained quickly.

"Interesting," Maran murmured as he inspected the wand, "Tell me what it already does and what is the problem."

So Harry did. He explained everything he discovered about his new creation and how it messed up most of the things it shouldn't. He even performed a few quick demonstrations so Maran could see the problem for himself.

"I have a few ideas, but to implement them we would probably need to craft this wand from the start. I am not sure if it is going to help, but we can at least try. I hope you have the required materials."

Harry nodded "I do, there should be enough for a few more attempts," with the more important topics finished, Harry leaned back in his chair and threw another question towards his old friend, "So are you coming with us to Myr?"

Maran smiled in response, "Of course I do. I stayed in Braavos for long enough and there is nothing holding me here. I already started packing things and even found a crew that would take me, and you if you want, to Myr in a week's time."

"We will take the offer," Ralnor responded, beating Harry to it, "We aren't in a hurry and this will give us enough time to work on the wand and find some information about the land beyond the Wall."

Harry nodded in agreement and from there their conversation turned to some lighter topics.

* * *

**The beginning of 295 AC**

Like Maran said after a week they left the grand city of Braavos on a large trading ship. It wasn't as fast as some of the vessels Harry cruised on, but it wasn't the worst. The trip was pretty enjoyable with more than one person to speak with all the time and the free time on the ship definitely didn't go to waste.

Maran kept his word and found everything he could on the legends and myths of Westeros.

They found mentions of the Others, White Walkers that controlled the dead and ice. Some parts said how they came when it was cold while the other described how they brought the cold and snow with them. Which stories were true, no one knew, but at least it shined more light on their abilities and character.

Harry, Ralnor, and Maran decided to accept that it was probably those white beasts that took Harry's control of ice away as there was nothing else that in legends that could have such effects. They speculated that maybe the wards and enchantments around the Wall caused the change, but there was nothing to support that theory.

They stopped their research on that as everything else they found in legends wasn't of use to them. That was probably the reason why Maran already scolded Harry a few times for not trying to get more information from Bloodraven before they left.

Neither Harry nor Ralnor could argue with that, the younger wizard acted rashly and now they would need to contact the old Greenseer again if they wanted more accurate information.

Of course, they didn't really need it now but in the future, it would certainly be useful.

Apart from their research, Harry and Maran tried to make some progress with the wand. With the use of runes, they created two new versions that definitely worked better.

On their first try, Maran mostly tried to use his experience in enchanting to add some stabilization runes and make the wand more in tune with the demon heartstring.

In return, Harry felt a better connection with the wand, and almost all of the basics spells worked without a problem and were a bit easier to use than wandlessly. Transfiguration also began to work a bit better, but the results were still far from what Harry wanted.

Their second attempt improved on what they already had, but this time Maran tried to add a rune matrix that would help the wand bound with the magic of the wielder.

It didn't really work but from the improvements alone the wand gave slightly better results.

Unfortunately, after more testing, Harry realized that his elemental magic couldn't be used with a wand. Everyone in the group was confused about why it worked like that and had no idea how to fix it for now.

Currently, Maran was working on some theories that would help with the wand, so for now Harry decided to drop the subject and relax for a bit. After all, they just arrived in Pentos, where they would need to wait two days before going back to their journey to Myr.

The city like almost all of Free Cities was huge with massive walls as its most prominent defense. Even then the city was regarded as one of the most vulnerable of the Free Cities. The serval lost wars to Braavos definitely didn't help with their image.

As Harry walked through the city he couldn't help but notice the high number of "free bond-servants", which was just a fancy name for slaves after Braavos imposed abolition of slavery in Pentos. Like always Harry hated this entire situation, but there was only so much that one person could do.

That was why Harry decided to give some of his coins to the beggars that lived around the bazaars. He had a lot of money so a few coins wouldn't hurt him and it would least make him feel a bit better.

Finally, his long trek led him to the exit of the bazaar where he noticed a girl, two or three years younger than him, sitting against a wall and crying quietly.

She was definitely of Valyrian descent, the long, pale silver-gold hair, violet eyes, and overall good beautiful appearance were a dead giveaway. Not that looks like that weren't common in Pentos, quite the opposite as Pentos had a high number of people with Valyrian looks. So many that Harry didn't even bother with applying his standard cover. After all here he was just another person with an almost pure Valyrian appearance.

Even then Harry felt like the girl was more than just another Valyrian. So to satiate his curiosity Harry slowly approached the young girl.

"Is everything alright lady?" Probably not the best way to start a conversation with a crying young girl, but Harry had no idea how to address this situation without sounding weird. Most likely he still did...

The silver-haired girl stopped her sobbing for a moment and looked at Harry with a bit of fear. The young wizard already got this kind of reaction from some beggars so it wasn't anything new.

"No need to be scared. I only wanted to see what's wrong and maybe help if I am able to," Harry quickly added hoping to calm the girl down.

The young girl was still reluctant, but finally, she began talking, "My brother, Viserys, left me here to wait. We were running out of money so he made the decision to sell the last thing we had remaining after our mother. It made him so angry."

That explained some of the things but raised even more questions. The girl obviously wasn't a normal beggar, if she even was one, Harry only needed to look at her clothes to see this. They were dirty and a bit destroyed, but apart from that, they were of quality one would expect from nobles.

Still, that was not enough information, even if Harry already knew how he could help, "And what's your name lady? I'm Harry."

The girl frowned, be it from the change of the subject or the question, "Only Harry?" The young wizard could hear the incredulity in her tone and he couldn't blame her. After all, Harry wasn't exactly a name someone with his appearance would have.

Still, Harry nodded and replied, "Just Harry. I fear that not everyone has some fancy names."

The girl didn't look convinced, but at least she decided to shyly introduce herself, "I am Daenerys of Hou-" Harry didn't know what made her stop, but at least now he was sure that Daenerys wasn't a normal girl. It would be nice to know, what House she belonged to, but it wasn't too important and he had other methods to find out.

"So Daenerys, what was the item your brother decided to sell that made him so angry?" Maybe the item would give him some clues.

The silver-haired girl didn't look too happy with the question and- after a long pause, Harry thought she wouldn't answer, "It was a crown. The crown of our mother Rhaella."

_Wait, Rhaella? Crown? And she belongs to an important house if she didn't want to give its name. She has a Valyrian appearance... No, there is no bloody way. What are the odds that I would meet the exiled Targaryens that I heard about in some rumors? _Harry held back the snort that almost escaped from his mind, _Of course, I would. Potter's luck at its finest..._

Harry had nothing against the Targaryens... Well, the Mad King was an exception, but it would be hard to find someone who would like the king after they found out what he had done to the Seven Kingdoms. From what Harry knew, those two exiled Targaryens were the last of their House and it would be a pity if they would die because they couldn't survive without money.

The question was what Harry was supposed to do now. He already decided that he would at least leave the exiled princess some funds, but should he do more?

No, it wasn't his place to, and Harry didn't really know what he could do for them, again he was only one man and his adventures weren't too safe for untrained kids. Besides he was pretty sure that sooner or later someone else would take interest in the exiled duo. It was only a matter of time and Harry could give them the means to last to this moment.

Crouching before the girl, Harry removed an unenchanted pouch and put a noticeable larger amount of coins in it. If she and her brother spent it carefully, it would last them for at least a few months.

"Here, take this Princess," Harry said handing Daenerys the pouch. The girl's eyes widened at the title, making Harry chuckle, "You need to be more careful with your secrets Princess, but don't worry I mean no harm to you. This pouch should help you and your brother, make sure to spend it wisely... Now I should probably get going, I wish you luck in your life Princess and I hope to meet you again in the future."

With that, Harry used Deanerys surprise to swiftly walk away. He said and done his part, only the future would show if he helped in any way.

* * *

"Here we are, the city of Myr," the Capitan of the ship said when Harry and Maran decided to find out how much longer it would take to arrive.

"In the last few years, the city changed a lot. Some say that it is the best place to live in this part of Essos and I got to agree, the new magister definitely did a great job," the man continued.

Harry raised an eyebrow, he completely forgot about the fact that there were some rumors about Myr with all the shite he was doing lately. Like always the younger wizard decided to find out what it was all about.

"The new magister?" he questioned.

The Capitan nodded, "Oh yes, he arrived in Myr about five years ago with some other men. No one really knows how it all happened but soon he was the new magister who took most of the control from others. Nowadays it is him that controls most of the city and with the changes he implemented, most of the population supports him. The other magisters can't do anything, they already lost enough."

"Intriguing," Maran said, as truly it was, "What is his name?"

The Capitan laughed awkwardly, "Aye, I forgot to tell you. He is...

_At this moment he noticed a small source of light next to him and when it disappeared he saw a small note._

_The kid would be dead in the next month, so I decided that it would be funny to see what you would do in his situation._

_An avid fan of your life, Death._

_PS: I gave you something so you could remember your past life. You will discover it in time. Oh, and expect quite a surprise later in your life, I can't wait for your reaction._

... Lord Sirius Black, the new magister of Myr."

_No... You didn't, Death. You fucking didn't do it. It must be a coincidence..._


	17. Lost in time

Harry.

.

Harry.

.

**"Harry."**

The man in question suddenly realized that his thoughts must have drifted away after the revelation of the new Magister's name. By all means, it shouldn't be possible. Sirius died, lost in the mysterious depths of the Veil of Death, but so did Harry, even if his death came from a spell.

Did Death pull his godfather from the Veil to this universe only to see this exact moment?

_Very possible, _Harry thought withholding a snort. The entity wanted entertainment and an event like this would no doubt provide a lot of it. Should he be angry at the annoying being?

No, definitely not. Harry now had a chance to reunite with his godfather, a man that died only because Harry was stupid enough to fall into Voldemort's trap. If this Sirius was the godfather that Harry lost then he didn't mind giving Death the entertainment it wanted. After all, Harry always wanted to have his family back, no matter how small it was.

**"Harry!"**

And he again let his thought wander... He probably looked like an idiot just standing there, looking in the distance with an empty gaze. Thank whatever force was listening that Ralnor still tried to get to him.

_Sorry about that, _He apologized swiftly and excused himself from his small group, _It's just a bit shocking. Sirius, he..._

**"I know," **Ralnor said when Harry trailed off, **"I remember him from a few of your memories. Godfather that fought and died for you. I hope that this isn't just a name coincidence. It is always good to have family on your side."  
**

Ralnor was happy for Harry, that much the younger wizard knew, but he also realized that the ancient man thought of Sirius as someone who would definitely be a useful ally in this world. Not that Harry could blame him for such reasoning, after all, Sirius was Harry's godfather, not Ralnor's and he didn't really know the man. Memories could only show so much.

_We will see, _Harry answered as he sat on the bed in his cabin, _First I want to see all the changes that the Captian was talking about. Besides running right towards Sirius' residence would be stupid. I don't know if he looks the same as he did in my world - I definitely don't - and I need to come up with a good story to explain to Maran how I know the new Magister._

**"Glad to see that your sentiment isn't clouding your mind. We did a lot of stupid shit in our travels and now that we have the time to approach this situation slowly, I feared that you will do it again because he is your godfather." **

Harry sighed as he let his back fall on the bed, _Trust me I really want to confront Sirius as soon as we dock into the port, but I also know that I need information first. It could be just Death playing tricks on me and I would just cause us unneeded problems with my rash actions. _

The desire to find Sirius instantly was really strong, but Harry wasn't the naive boy he was in the past. Yeah, he still had his moments of stupidy and recklessness, but what human didn't? Everyone acted on their emotions from time to time and Harry wasn't excluded from this group. Maybe if he was sure that the Magister was the Sirius Harry knew and loved, then he would act like that. Without this confirmation, Harry could at least control his impulses.

**"We will see Harry. Just don't get your hopes up, it will be easier to accept the disappointment that way. Still, you are right, we need a really good story for Maran if this is your godfather. The old man won't buy anything else,"** Ralnor said making Harty snort at the last part.

_You realize you're much older than he, right? _It was not the first time that Ralnor used that nickname for Maran and Harry never could stop himself from pointing out the hypocrisy in such a statement. It always annoyed the ancient mage thus amusing Harry to no end.

**"Shut up,"** Ralnor snarked back and closed the connection between them.

Harry laughed at the reaction. This definitely helped him to get his mind off the entire Sirius situation. He froze before exploding in laughter again. It had been a long time since he heard that pun...

* * *

"I thought I would find you here," a voice said from the entrance to Harry's cabin.

Snorting, Harry pushed himself into a sitting position, "Right, because there are so many places on the ship that I could go to," he said dryly.

Maran opened his mouth a few times, before chuckling, "I walked into that one, eh?"

"That you did," Harry answered with his own chuckle, "Why did you search for me? Are we docking or maybe you need something? And if it is about my weird reaction to the new Magister's name, then just leave it for now. I will tell you what it is about when I confirm a few things."

Maran nodded slowly, "Aye, I wanted to ask about that, but it can wait... For now, you should gather your things and get on the deck. We are docking and I wanted to tell you to go out into the city and find us a place to sleep. I will need a few days to find a place to set up my shop and while the ship crew promised to keep my things here, they won't let us sleep here anymore."

Harry gave a nod of his own and got up to gather his things, "I suspected as much. It had been a few years since I was here, but I shouldn't have a problem with finding an inn. Just tell me where and when to meet you."

"I need to discuss a few things with the Captian and finish our deal so I should be here for a few more hours. It should give you enough time to do whatever you need," Maran informed.

"Yeah, that's plenty. I will be back in an hour or two. Let's see how my old home changed."

* * *

_The Captian definitely wasn't lying about the changes,_ Harry thought as he walked through the full streets of Myr.

This Free City always was one of the better places to live in Essos, even when Harry just arrived in this world it wasn't that bad... Well, it was bad for an eight-year-old that couldn't protect himself, but now that Harry had years to train and prepare for his new life, he could finally enjoy the wonders of Myr.

The high amount of slaves that the city possessed in the past definitely didn't paint a good picture for a wizard who previously lived in a world where slavery was almost nonexistent. Nowadays Harry got somewhat used to those sights even if he really wanted to help those people be free. Unfortunately unlike his old world, this one was more dangerous and Harry knew that going against all the slavers alone would be a suicide.

Still, it looked like the new Magister was trying to fix it if the much smaller amount of slaves on the streets was anything to go by. They were still there, but unlike the last time Harry was in Myr, now he couldn't spot multiple of them anywhere he went.

Overall the city looked much better than what Harry remembered. Streets were busier and liver while people looked happier if their expressions were anything to go by. Of course, Harry wasn't blind to the darker sides of Myr.

Beggars still littered the streets of the bazaar that Harry just visited and while their number wasn't that big, they were still there. After all, even if the improvements were there, you just couldn't help everyone. It was a truth that Harry learned a long time ago.

Harry shook his head to banish those negative thoughts from his mind. For now, he should focus on the changes in the city and finding out more about Sirius.

_And look at that, one of the few places in Myr that I still remember, _Harry thought in amusement as he stared at the entrance to the public baths. His first fix to the lack of showers in the new world, those were really frustrating and embarrassing times...

At least from what Harry could see, those baths were now free for everyone. Definitely an interesting development as Harry could bet that managing a place like that wasn't exactly cheap. Was it another one of those improvements that the new Magister implemented?

Harry didn't know, but he wanted to find out, so without any further ado, he began mingling with the crowd and asking subtle questions about the changes and the new Magister.

Most of the people had only good things to say about the development of the city and Harry was happy to hear them all. Hell, he even managed to talk with some new guards that were tasked with patrolling Myr. They were much nicer than Harry expected soldiers to be, even if they showed some annoyance at Harry's questions.

Well, as long as they didn't attack him they were a lot better than what Harry remembered from his year-long stay in Myr in the past and definitely better than one of his encounters with guards in a city that shall-not-be-named.

Snorting quietly at the memory, Harry pushed through the crowd in the direction of Sirius' residence. As it wasn't a secret where the man lived, no one really had a problem with telling Harry where he should go.

It took a bit of time and a few more questions to arrive at his destination, but he did it, he finally found Sirius' new home. Or rather a manor...

It was only a two-story-tall white building, but its style screamed noble. If it was really Sirius who bought or build this house then Harry was a bit surprised. After all his godfather never seemed to like too fancy things. His preferences either changed or the people of Myr gave him the wrong address.

Oh well, he would need to check it out later as there was no chance and time to sneak in now. Harry already saw a few guards walking around and the ten feet tall wall all around the building definitely wouldn't help. There was no need to act rashly, besides he still needed to find an inn to sleep in. Maran wouldn't let him live it down if Harry forgot about the main reason for his trip into town.

Thankfully there was one nice inn with empty rooms on the way back to the port. Before Harry knew he was walking back in the city with Maran beside him.

"So how was your trip?" Maran asked, finally breaking the silence.

"Quite nice. The city definitely improved a lot ever since I left. It is a miracle that the appearance of one new magister would change so much. Though I am curious how exactly he managed to take so much power away from others. I doubt that they gave it away peacefully," At least Maran didn't ask about their previous conversation on the ship.

"I didn't really believe in the rumors I heard in Braavos, but now that I am here it is hard to argue with them. Whoever this Sirius Black is he definitely changed Myr for the better. You wouldn't know anything about him eh?" Here it was, the question that Harry expected but hoped wouldn't come that soon. Neither he nor Ralnor really had any good idea how to explain Harry's interest in Sirius.

For now, Harry could only give Maran a half-truth and hope that it wouldn't bite him in the ass in the future... Unfortunately knowing Harry's very good luck it definitely would.

"You could say that Sirius Black was a family friend back when my mother was still alive. He left Myr sometime before my mother's death and I never saw him again. I am not sure if the new magister and the man I knew are the same person, but I will find out," It was as good of an answer as Harry could come up with in such a short time without giving almost anything away.

Maran chuckled in return, "Who would have thought. It would definitely help in settling down in the city if we had a Magister on our side. Just be careful when you go to investigate. We don't want any problems with a major ruling party of Myr, we only arrived here after all."

"Don't worry, I already talked with Ralnor about this. We are going to do this slowly and without anyone noticing," He placated the older man.

Maran sighed in relief, "Good... For a moment I thought that you would again do something stupid."

"Screw you too old man, screw you too," Was Harry's mature retort. What? He didn't need everyone pointing out his old mistakes.

* * *

It took about five days for Maran to find a place for his shop. In Harry's honest opinion it was quite surprising as after all the old man didn't really know anyone in the city. Still, after all those years that Maran worked as a merchant, he probably learned a thing or two so maybe Harry should have expected that. It wasn't like he knew everything about his old friend. Or at least that was what Harry thought and he was wrong before.

At least now they had a proper place to sleep in or it would be after Maran managed to get all of his stuff sorted out. For now, the place was a mess, but they were slowly getting there.

Of course, during the time that Maran was taking care of his business, Harry wasn't idle. He took his time to get familiar with the city once again and discover more about the changes that Sirius apparently made to Myr.

It was still kinda overwhelming for Harry that it could be his godfather who caused all of them. He never thought that Sirius would ever assume any position of power. Well, who was Harry to judge, after all even he could bet that none of his old friends would believe what became of him in this new world.

**"They would," **Ralnor's voice cut in the middle of Harry's thoughts, **"You always got involved in the weirdest situations in your life so being reborn as an heir to an almost extinct family shouldn't be a surprise."**

_You know what? You are probably right,_ Harry thought in exasperation, _The existence of this would probably surprise them more than my involvement with it. _

**"Probably,"** Ralnor said absently, **"Now you should get going. We found out as much as we could about the new Magister without doing anything dangerous and as much as it pains me to say it. It is time to do it your way."  
**

_Come on, it is not like we are doing this for the first time, _Harry instantly retorted, _At this point, I am a professional at sneaking into other people's houses... You know what, it made me sound like some kind of stalker._

**"Well, when you say it like that, then you are right. You are a stalker," **Ralnor responded casually.

Harry's brow twitched a few times before he grinned as a thought went through his mind, _In that case, you aren't any better. After all, you are always with me._

Ralnor fell silent for a moment before he replied in a resigned tone, **"You couldn't let me have that one eh?"  
**

_No, _Harry answered happily and cut the connection between them temporarily. Ralnor was right and after those few days of collecting information about Sirius, they were pretty sure that the building they saw on the first day really was the new Magister's home. It was a shame that Harry never managed to spot his supposed godfather. It certainly would help...

"So you are really doing it?" Maran's exasperated voice asked when Harry entered the main part of the shop.

The younger wizards shrugged, "No reason to wait now. And don't worry it is not like I am doing this for the first time. Even if I somehow get caught I will just escape and come back in a few days."

"So be it, just don't get any suspicion on me. I just got the shop."

Harry waved him off as he left the shop, "Yeah, yeah. I will be back in a few hours."

* * *

After Harry unlocked his animagus form, sneaking into guarded places became much easier or even straight up not challenging. This wasn't really surprising as no one expected a falcon to be a wizard in hiding. Maybe it took away some of the excitement in sneaking into buildings, but at least it removed most of the risks, and with Harry's luck an advantage like that was definitely useful.

So it wasn't a challenge for Harry to pass the high wall of Sirius' residence and scout a good place to enter the building unnoticed. Or it wouldn't be if it wasn't for the feeling of magic that washed over Harry when he neared the building.

_Wards, _he exclaimed in surprise, _The chance of the new Magister being the Sirius I know just raised expediently. Still how the hell he managed to place wards all over the manor? They feel completely different from the ones I can create using wardstones. And they are definitely weaker._

**"Do you recognize them?" **Ralnor asked after he tried to get a feel of the wards, **"They are nothing like the wards I know."**

_I do, _Harry confirmed, _Those are basic proximity and hostility detection wards. Nothing hard to make, but I have no clue how they were created here. Sirius will have a lot to answer to.  
_

**"At least we are not in the dark. Can you pass them without anyone noticing?"**

Harry nodded, _If my new wand doesn't fail me then it shouldn't be too hard. __I worked with much stronger wards in my last life and I still could pass them. Standard Auror training._

**"But you have never done that before in this world right?"** Ralnor asked hesitantly.

_Yes? _Harry answered not sure what the hell his companion was getting at.

**"So in truth, you have complete zero experience with passing wards, or did you forget that magic works a bit differently in this world," **this time Harry could the frustration seeping into Ralnor's voice.

_Don't worry, I will be careful, _Harry quickly reassured and transformed on the edge of the wards where no one would see him.

Normally Harry wouldn't be so sure in his attempt at passing the wards but during their trip from Pentos to Myr, Maran and Harry managed to create another wand that was more stable than the previous ones. It was still far from working like wands from Harry's old world, but at least now he was pretty confident with most of the non-advanced spells, even if they were weaker than normally.

Harry took the new Weirwood wand out of his cloak and waved it in a long pattern that he barely remembered after so many years of not using it. Thankfully the spell worked and in the next moment, a small window opened in the wards. Harry suspected that with the strain he felt during the spell it would probably fail if the wards weren't that weak.

_Done, _Harry thought and without wasting any more time, he transformed into his animagus form and flew through the opening. Soon he was inside the manor and no one even noticed him, _Now to find his room._

It definitely was easier said than done as even though the manor wasn't that big, there was still plenty of rooms inside. He also needed to dodge all the guards that were still inside the building as even though he was mostly moving in his falcon form, he still needed to change from time to time to sneak through the doors.

There were a few close calls where he almost entered a room that was occupied, but thankfully Harry's quick reflexes saved him from detection.

He wasn't sure how long it took him to find a study room that definitely belonged to the owner of the building, but at least he finally got here. The room was quite small with one beautiful desk near the entrance to the balcony and a few bookshelves that were full of all kinds of things. Sirius definitely didn't save money on his private room.

Harry furrowed his brow as he looked at the multiple shelves. To be honest, he hoped to find Sirius here, but either the man was out of the manor or Harry was really unlucky.

Shrugging Harry approached the desk and began browsing through the files left in the open. Sirius might not be here, but he could at least discover more about his lost godfather. Currently, Harry was pretty sure that the new Magister and Sirius Black of his old world were the same people.

The documents showed some plans and notes about Sirius' current businesses and Harry was happy to admit that he couldn't understand about half of what he just read. It wasn't the language barrier, but rather Harry's hate towards anything related to business management or politics. He had enough of this in his old life and even then he was bad in those areas.

Thankfully Harry was saved from the boring task of browsing through documents when the sound of opening doors reached his ears. Instantly Harry assumed his animagus form and took position on the railing on the balcony. There he had a perfect view of the room and the moment the doors opened fully Harry almost fell from his perch.

The person that entered the room definitely was _the _Sirius Black that Harry remembered... Well mostly as this person was at a maximum in their late twenties. Not that it was that surprising as after all Harry had a completely different body now.

Still, the happiness that Harry felt from the lone fact that his godfather was alive and standing just in front of him was exhilarating. He almost missed Sirius murmuring something.

"Bloody arseholes. You would think that with the amount of control I have, they would just leave me alone... Idiots," Both Harry and Ralnor snorted in their minds. This was definitely something the old Sirius would say.

Harry watched his godfather work for a few more minutes all the while remembering the times when he just met Sirius in his third year.

**"Alright, enough of this** **Stalker,"** Ralnor cut in breaking Harry's concentration, **"If you want to confront him then you won't get a better moment."**

Ignoring the stupid nickname Harry nodded and flew off the railing to hide behind the wall. He then transformed back into a human and steeled his nerves. It was now or never.

"You know Sirius, I would have never thought that you would ever assume a position of power," Harry said casually as he leaned against the balcony's entrance.

Instantly he erected a small magical shield to protect himself from the red spell coming his way. Well, Sirius definitely had good reflexes and if what Harry saw was right, then the stick in his hand was a wand, a perfectly working wand. Well, that was a surprise.

"Who the hell are you and how did you get here?" At least Sirius didn't keep attacking him. That would definitely alert someone sooner or later.

"You know very well who I am," Harry then lowered his hood and let his magic passively flow through his body so his eyes would become of the color that his mother, Lily, gave him, "What do you say... Padfoot."

Sirius' eyes widened for a second before they narrowed in Harry's direction, "How do you know that name? Better answer quickly or I will deal with you myself."

Harry chuckled as he waved his hand one more time and applied a small illusion over his face. If that didn't help then Harry didn't know what would, "Come on Sirius. Did you already forgot your own godson?"

Sirius' eyes again flew open as he stared at Harry in shock. Not that the younger wizard could blame him. Harry at least had some time to accept the fact that his godfather might be back.

"It is really you Harry?" The completely confused man asked quietly as he approached his godson and grabbed him by the shoulders. Harry let him as he knew that if he wanted to convince his godfather of his identity, he would need to be careful.

"Of course I am," Harry nodded as tears began to build behind his eyes, "I might look different now, but how else would I know about the Marauders, Lily and James Potter or about the fact that you broke out of Azkaban to track the traitor Pettigrew."

Instantly Sirius engulfed Harry in a tight hug as tears began to run down his face. Harry wasn't much better as he also let the emotions flow through him. He finally got his godfather back and he couldn't be happier.

"How?" Sirius finally asked after he broke the hug.

Harry took a few steps back and ran a hand through his hair, "I died Sirius, by the same spell that got me so famous. Of course, it appears that Death is a real entity and it really enjoyed the show that was my life. It reincarnated me into a new body in this world about six years ago. This is the reason why you didn't recognize me. What you see now is only an illusion I learned to create during my travels."

Sirius didn't give an outright reaction apart from sitting down in his chair and removing a large bottle of wine along with two cups from his desk, "Sit down Harry. I don't know about you, but this is too much for me when I am sober."

Harry shrugged and took the seat across his godfather, "How did you get here Sirius? I am happy that you are here, but I doubt that you met Death personally, even if it promised to have a surprise ready for me..."

Sirius took a sip of his wine and ignored Harry's silent complaint about Death, "I don't know. I was trapped in the endless darkness for what seemed an eternity. Then one day a portal opened before me and spewed me on the scorching sands of Essos. I was lucky to be found by one of the traveling mercenary groups instead of Dothraki."

"This at least explains why you still have your own body, even if it is younger than it should be," Harry said.

Sirius grinned, "That's right! I was a teenager again when I arrived here. Probably one of the few upsides of this entire situation. Well, that and now having my godson back."

_Teenager? _That didn't make any sense, "Wait! When did you arrive in this world?"

Sirius furrowed his brows as he thought of the answer, "If I remember correctly then it was about ten years ago. Yeah, something like that."

Why would Death transfer Sirius here four years before Harry? Was it some kind of devious plan that Death created or maybe it just wanted Harry to be confused without a reason...

Harry snorted, that sounded about right.

"What?" Sirius asked, definitely confused by Harry's previous reaction.

"Nothing important Padfoot," Harry reassured, before leaning forward in his chair, "Now tell me how exactly you became the most powerful Magister of Myr. As I said, it isn't a position I expected you to take."

"Only if you will tell me how yow a kid like you survived in this world," he said with a grin, before he turned serious faster than Harry expected, "I also want to know how the war ended and how you died."

Harry sighed tiredly, _This is going to be a very long conversation._


	18. Family

**Early 295 AC**

"Asshai, Yi Ti, Mossovy, the lands beyond the Wall," Sirius shook his head, his eyes slightly wide, "Bloody hell and here I thought my new life was full of surprises."

Harry shrugged, at this point pretty much used to people's reaction when he told them about his adventures, "Can't say I was bored. Still, it took some time to get used to this new world and body," he said and looked down on his hands.

"Blakfyre eh?" Sirius said mostly to himself, "I learned enough of history to know what the most of the world think about your house. Or rather thought as House Blackfyre should be extinct after all. People definitely will get confused if you ever decide to reveal your new heritage."

Harry sighed and ran a hand through his hair, "For now I see no reason to reveal this particular secret. Oh, I am sure that sooner or later it will come out, especially if stay close to you. You are already popular and while I can hide pretty well, I can't do it forever."

Besides Harry had enough of hiding. Everywhere he went, he used glamors over his appearance, and apart from some low-key spells he almost didn't use magic openly. It almost made Harry miss his time in Asshai and Mossovy where everyone practiced magic openly.

Suppressing a snort, Harry turned back to his godfather and noticed the man staring at him with eyes wide, "You're staying here? I thought you will continue your travels, this world is big and I am sure there are places yet undiscovered."

Harry's lips quirked up into the biggest smile he ever had since arriving in this world, "That's true, I want to see more of this world, but I have got my entire life to do this. You are family Sirius, the only one I have. I lost you once due to my stupidity and I won't be making this mistake again... even if I really want to visit Valyria as soon as I can," he whispered the last part, they could talk about this later.

Sirius' gaze fell and it took a good moment for the older man to respond, "Harry, it had been more than ten years since we last saw each other and even then we didn't really know each other that well. I am happy that you want to stay here, trust me I really am, but are you sure about this? I am not the same man I was back then..."

A hollow laugh left Harry's lips, "Sirius," he began, "Neither of us is the same... I lived through another war before my death, and this world? It changes you, more than I have ever expected. So no, I won't just walk away because we are different. You are family and nothing is ever going to change that."

Sirius chuckled quietly, "Maybe you are right."

Harry rolled his eyes, "I know I am. Now tell me what you did in the last ten years. You already heard my story and I want to hear yours. And remember, I won't judge you for anything you tell me."

Sirius nodded, "When I feel into the Veil of Death, I thought it was the end," he snorted lightly, "For a while, it was the truth. Not afterlife, not hell awaited me. Just nothing or rather an endless void where I was completely alone."

Harry's mind instantly flashed to one of his early visions from Qarth where he heard a man he couldn't recognize back then. Endless void described this vision pretty well.

"I don't know for how long I was trapped there, but it gave me a lot of time to think about my life. The ups and downs. The numerous mistakes I have made over the years... I would have probably gone mad if the void didn't decide that it had enough of me. Even if it spit me in the Flatlands with only my wand, clothes, and much younger body."

Harry quirked his brow, "Near Pentos?"

Geography wasn't Harry's forte, but he knew enough to remember the name of the lands around Pentos. After all, without Flatlands the Free city would be without its own supply of food.

"Aye," Sirius confirmed, "Thankfully I could spot the city from my landing point. Unfortunately unlike you, I had no clue how this world functioned. It took me weeks of wandering around Pentos and using magic to finally learn something. Those were pretty dark days. Even my time after escaping Azkaban was better..."

Harry sighed when he noticed his godfather drifting away in thoughts. Whatever the man went through, it couldn't be good. Harry's situation in the beginning while not perfect, wasn't too bad.

Clearing his throat to get Sirius' attention Harry spoke, "If you don't want to talk about this part we can skip it."

Sirius smiled lightly and nodded, "Thanks... I just prefer to forget about those times, just like my vacation in Azkaban," he shook his head before continuing, "I remained in Pentos for almost a year before I found something to do. Apparently, a smaller mercenary group was looking for any volunteers to join so I took the offer. Anything was better than my stagnation in the Free City."

Harry's brows furrowed, "Mercenary group? You? I very much doubt you had any skills that normal companies like that required."

Sirius shrugged, "I didn't, but they never specified who they wanted. Just volunteers. Besides I still had my magic, even if this world actively fights against anything I try to do..."

The younger wizard immediately perked up at the mention of magic, "Wait. Before you continue I wanted to ask you about your magic. Like you know my own changed a lot with the transfer to this world. What about yours?"

Sirius paused for a moment before he reached into his pocket and brought out a simple stick of very dark wood. Unlike Harry's creation, this wand was completely smooth and without any cracks running along its length. It was evident that this artifact was created by a master wandmaker.

Harry felt like a large weight was removed from his shoulders. Now he had a chance to better his own wand if only Sirius had nothing against giving some help.

"I don't think I went through any changes apart from my younger body when I arrived in this world. My magic works just like it did before, but like I mentioned earlier this world actively fights against it. In the beginning, I had troubles maintaining even the simplest of spells, thankfully over the years it got much better, but some magic is still beyond me."

Harry raised an eyebrow and Sirius instantly elaborated, "Mind magic, not that I was ever good at it. Thankfully confundus works to some degree, shite saved my hide a few times already," then the older man lifted up his left hand and Harry's eyes widened when he noticed the pinky finger missing, "Of course my stupid arse didn't think anything of those changes back then and tried to use Apparition... It didn't work as you can see."

Groaning Harry ran a hand across his face, "Really Sirius? Your magic refuses to work as it should and the first thing you do is Apparition?

Sirius looked away as his shoulders slumped, "Hey, those were hard times and I didn't really think this through."

Harry looked at Sirius' left hand, then back to his godfather and answered dryly, "Yes I can see that. Wouldn't be the first time eh?"

His godfather blushed lightly and stammered a response, "Anyway I still have some problems with magic, but for the most part I can do almost anything I could in our previous world. Only here the spells are a bit more taxing. Now let's go back to my story, no questions."

At Sirius' glare, Harry waved his hands and motioned his godfather to continue. He had his fun and he wanted to hear the rest of Sirius' story. How someone like his godfather became a very important Magister, Harry had no clue.

"The company had about three hundred men when I joined. Most of them were experienced fighters while a smaller part was almost as bad as me. The leader didn't care and just trained the recruits to a passable standard," Sirius snorted, "Never have I thought that I would be swinging a sword in my life."

"And magic? Did you hide it?" Harry questioned.

"At first? Yes," he replied swiftly, "I still knew almost nothing about this world and didn't know how people would react if I used magic in front of them. I heard some rumors about Red Priests and their 'sorcery', but that was it."

The older man paused as a dark look passed in his eyes, "For more than two years life was pretty good... Well at least better than previously. My comrades trained me and I managed to learn a lot about this world. We had a few skirmishes here and there that definitely showed me that life here was different... Unfortunately, those times didn't last."

"Our leader grew too bold due to our success and thought we could start taking harder contracts," Sirius shook his head, "Foolish. At this point, we had about nine hundred fighters in our company with maybe eighty percent of them being capable and experienced warriors. Still, somehow the bloody idiot thought we could handle the force of a two thousand Dothraki."

Harry palmed his face, "Tell me you didn't try to fight them in the open. At least with some sort of protection, you had a chance."

Sirius almost growled, "I wish, but like I said the idiot thought we could _hunt_ Dothraki. The Khalasar might have been small and inexperienced, but to fight them on their home turf? Suicide."

"You are here, so somehow you managed to survive. What happened?"

Sirius snorted, "What do you think? I began to actively use magic. I can fight with a sword against one person and probably win, but more? Bah, I would be dead in a minute. So when the battle started I cast as many offensive spells as my magic allowed me to. Fuck hiding if I can save my and my comrades' life."

By the clenching of Sirius' fists, Harry knew that he again came upon a very dark memory.

"I did what I could. Probably cast more spells in an hour than I thought I could. But in the end, only I and about fifty of my comrades came alive from that battle. We took what we could and traveled back to Volantis where our contractor lived. The rest of the group elected me as a new leader even if with our numbers we couldn't really be called mercenary company anymore."

"They didn't ask about your magic?" Harry inquired.

The older man chuckled, "Oh they did. Like a never-ending stream, they fired question after question. I explained what I could, they deserved that much after what we went through. Surprisingly most accepted everything without much thought while others took some demonstrations to sway."

"At least now you had some people who you could maybe trust and knew about your abilities. What happened to them?"

"We traveled," he answered simply, "Taking an odd job here and there so we would have money to survive. More than ten of us decided to leave our group and went on their own. Not that I can blame them, we all wanted some peace after almost another two years of wandering Essos. Thankfully for the first time in years, we were lucky and got hired by a very old Magister from Myr."

Sirius again stopped his story while he observed the room they were in, "This was his home you know? We arrived here expecting another of those pompous slave masters, but instead, we got an old man who gave his servants all that they would require in their life. And to top it all he somehow knew about my abilities."

Harry frowned as he recalled his memories of Myr, "I don't remember anyone like that, but I never really cared enough about the ruling party of Myr."

Sirius snorted, "Not surprising, you were more concerned with surviving back then. Still, life became quite good and for the first time in this world, I felt like I achieved some sort of normalcy. Of course, the old man was overly interested in me, but not in a bad way. We talked about my travels and magic, while he spoke of his life as one of the richest magisters. He wanted to change this city for the better, but with his age, there was only so much he could do."

"And that's why he hired you," Harry cut in, slowly realizing the old Magister's plan.

Sirius nodded, "Exactly. He didn't have any heirs and upon his death, his wealth would be picked apart. So he decided to pick an heir for himself. I should have expected that after all those weird questions about my thoughts on the state of this city and the world. He made sure that whoever he picked would be the right person to continue his work. My own views and magical power made me the perfect candidate at least in his opinion..."

"So he just gave you his position like that?" It couldn't be that easy, nothing ever was.

Shaking his head Sirius leaned back in his chair, "Yes and no. The old man didn't have anything to lose so he probably trusted his gut when he made the decision. The last few months of his life he spent on teaching me all I needed to know and introducing me to the most important people in Myr. After all, the title of Magister is not hereditary. One needs to be chosen so the old man did everything he could to make sure I would be."

"Not that it was hard, being one of the richest people in Myr proved very useful... I was elected as a new Magister a week before the old man died and even now I can remember his last words very clearly. 'I have tried to change this place for years lad and never succeded. But you, you have the power to change this shithole for the better so don't waste it,' he said. Bloody old fart."

"At least he tried to make this world a better place. I traveled through multiple lands and met only a handful of people like that," Harry said with a shake of his head, "And here I thought that the wizarding world was fucked up."

"You don't say," Sirius replied as his nose crinkled, "I had my own fair of wizarding politic before they threw me into Azkaban, but here? Everything is ten times worse. People backstab each other on a daily basis and you always need to look into shadows to check if there are no assassins lurking in the dark. And the worst part? You either join this cycle or die."

"And you Sirius, did you join the cycle?" Harry asked, his tone steady without even an ounce of accusation in it.

The older man nodded slowly, his eyes distant, "I did. I made a promise to the old man and I intend to keep it. You need to understand Harry that I lost almost everything in my life. Lily, James, my world, and much more. I didn't know what to do, so when a man appeared who finally gave me some purpose I grabbed it and held it as firmly as I could... If I knew you were alive I would have searched for you. But I didn't and so I fell into the pit of blackmail, backstabbing, and murder."

Harry looked away, not capable of meeting his godfather's eyes after what he just heard, "I'm not mad at you Sirius, why would I. You dealt with your problems as best as you could and you should be proud of it."

To Harry's surprise, Sirius laughed, "Oh I am proud Harry. I control over half of the city and most people love the changes I implemented. Everything would be perfect if it wasn't for the fact that when I look in the mirror I sometimes don't recognize the person staring back at me."

_Ah, so that's what it is all about, _Harry thought as the realization hit him like a Warhammer.

**"Not everyone handles the change as well as you do. It can break a person and leave them a shell of their former self. Your godfather while holding himself well still needs to completely accept what happened to him," **the voice which had been silent for this entire conversation finally spoke.

_True,_ Harry answered, not commenting on his partner's disappearance.

"Sirius," he began gaining the man's attention, "Remember what you have told me? You aren't the same man I met in the Shrieking Shack. You have changed and you need to accept it. I can't say I ever had the same problem as even though I hated it, I always adapted well to new situations. Still, it doesn't mean that I can't help you... Family Sirius, remember that."

They remained in silence for some time, before Sirius chuckled loudly, "Even with new face and name I can still hear Lily right through you. She might have been the voice of reason when the war began, but she was the kindest person I have ever met... Well maybe expect your grandmother."

"A story that I definitely want to hear one day," Harry said and sighed when he noticed his godfather coming out from his temporary depression, "For now though I would like you to meet my companion for the last few years. Ralnor, show yourself."

At Harry's command, the space next to him shimmered in bright light. It slowly extended in every direction forming the tall body of Harry's trapped friend. The man stretched his form, popping a few of his joints. Harry had no clue how that worked as Rolnor was made entirely out of magic.

Turning back to his godfather Harry laughed when he noticed Sirius' mouth opening and closing in an attempt to say something, "You okay there Sirius?" he asked with a snicker.

The older wizard splutterer, "But, but, I thought he was someone you met in Leng! What the hell Harry!?"

Ralnor snorted, "He met me in Leng alright. Although I think he omitted the fact that I was trapped in an underground vault for centuries. Oh well..."

Harry wiped a few tears that formed from his fit of laughter and explained, "That is a bit of a longer story Sirius so we will save it for later. All you need to know is that Ralnor here is now bound to my magic and we share a connection that let us speak mentally."

After the last sentence, Sirius instantly stopped gaping and his eyes narrowed, "Connected? After what you have told me of the war in Britain, I would have thought that you would never want anything foreign inside your mind again. Are you both fine with this?"

Almost in synchronization Ralnor and Harry shrugged, "It was hard in the beginning," the Lengii sorcerer spoke, "We weren't prepared for the merge and none of us really wanted it. Thankfully over time, we managed to find some familiar ground and start a tentative friendship. Took months to do it, but well here we are. I am definitely not complaining. Everything is better than being trapped in this god-forsaken vault, even if having my own body would be nice."

Harry just nodded not having anything to add. Only after giving a full story to Sirius, they could expand on this subject.

"Are you trying to find some way to separate yourself permanently?"

Harry frowned, "We are. Unfortunately magic like that is still far beyond us. For now, we are working on creating a working wand. I was hoping you will let me get a look at your own. Gods only know how Ollivander created so many wands..."

"Of course I will," Sirius replied, "Just try not to destroy it. Not everyone here can use magic without one."

"Don't worry we won't," Harry's eyebrow then raised as he realized something, "You really can't use magic without a wand?"

Sirius shook his head, "Apart from some low-powered first-year spells, I can't do anything. I guess that's the con of having my own body travel with me. You can't have everything."

Harry smiled a bit, "I guess you can't... Anyway, we derailed from the topic a bit, but I wanted to ask, what are your plans now? You have most of the city eating out of your hands and only a few other Magisters controlling the rest of it."

"I'm going to take it over," he stated bluntly and Harry's brows raised almost to his hairline, "That was always the plan. Take over the city, implement all the changes I couldn't before, and then set my eyes on the Disputed Lands."

At this point, it was Harry's turn to gape at his godfather while Ralnor just observed the pair with rapt interest.

"Are you mad?" Harry almost shouted, "I get taking over Myr, after all, it is already almost in your control, but the Disputed Lands? Tyrosh and Lys will never let you. Bah, I bet they won't be happy with the change of leadership in Myr. Most likely they will band together against you and it will end the same way it always does. With no one getting the Disputed Lands."

Sirius gave no outright reaction at Harry's outburst and only replied calmly, "That would be true if Lys and Tyrosh decided to stand against me together."

Harry furrowed his brows. This didn't make any sense, the two remaining Sisters would never let anyone control the Disputed Lands even if it meant banding together. Over the centuries only a few managed to conquer those lands, but it never lasted.

To Harry's even further surprise it was Ralnor who spoke and made the younger wizard realize something, "You know something we don't Magister Black. Something is happening between the two Free Cities."

Sirius nodded and unrolled a large map of Westeros and western Essos on the table, "Over two years ago I heard rumors from my contacts that one of the Magisters of Lys upset the Tyroshi Archon. I don't know the details, but the trade between the cities became strained after this. Over the time this situation began to affect other Magisters and instead of dealing with the one idiot who caused all of this they went against Tyrosh. Already I heard of a few skirmishes between the Cities. It is only a matter of time before the official war begins."

Harry palmed his face. Of course one of the Sisters would rather go to war than admit a mistake to each other. Another of those never-ending cycles.

Shaking his head Harry addressed his godfather again, "So what, you plan to use this war to conquer the Disputed Lands? This still won't help you with keeping them. I won't be surprised if Lys and Tyrosh don't stop their war just to band against you."

"That's the thing Harry," Sirius said as he looked straight into Harry's eyes, "I don't plan to go after the Disputed Lands. No, I will use the distraction and conquer both Lys and Tyrosh."

* * *

Harry knew that this world changed him. Be it for the worse or the better. He didn't care too much as long as he enjoyed his new life and enjoy he did. Traveling was something Harry dreamed of during his younger years, unfortunately, life with Dursleys never allowed such a thing.

Then Hogwarts and the war came and Harry forgot about his dreams. When Death gave him a second chance, even if it was only for the beings entertainment, Harry promised himself that he would do whatever he could o make this life better than the last one.

And so he traveled for years, encountering things and people he never dreamed of.

Coming to Myr he only had plans to relax for some time and then be on his way towards Valyria. Now though Harry didn't know what to do.

Discovering that Sirius was alive and well, filled Harry with a myriad of emotions. He wanted to scream in happiness and thank Death for giving him a chance to reunite with his family. Unfortunately, his godfather had to go and complicate everything.

Taking control over Myr and changing it for the better Harry could understand. Even if Sirius probably killed a few people on his way, seeing the smiles on the faces of former slaves and smallfolk was worth it. No longer slaves outnumbered the freeborn three to one and it was only getting better and better with every day.

Conquering Lys and Tyrosh?

Harry almost punched his godfather when he heard him even suggest it two days ago. Their conversation followed up with Sirius asking if Harry would help him. To make this world a better place. He didn't give his godfather any answer, just asked for some time to think.

Harry wanted to laugh as he laid in his bed, here he was considering joining another war. Ralnor remained silent ever since this day and Harry was grateful. He needed some time to think in peace.

He already promised Sirius that he wouldn't abandon him and Harry had no intention of breaking this promise. Family stuck together.

But did he really want to help Sirius in a conquest that could kill thousands or cause his godfather's own demise? Yes, he did. Harry lost him once and this time Harry wasn't a hopeless child who couldn't protect himself.

Now Harry could defend Sirius from the dangers coming with the war. With his abilities, he might be able to even lower the death count on both sides. Maybe this was the perfect way to prepare for whatever the Bloodraven spoke about. Something definitely to think about.

Harry sat up from his bed and ran a hand through his short hair, "This was never a hard decision eh?" he murmured.

"I don't know what decision you are talking about, but we got a visitor. You could have warned me that you really knew Magister Black," a voice spoke from the entrance to Harry's new room.

The younger wizard's head instantly snapped towards the elderly form of Maran. He must have been in a really deep thought if he missed him approaching.

"I will tell you later Maran. If you are planning to stay in Myr for a longer time then it will affect you too. Now let me deal with the madman," Harry answered and jumped to his feet.

Swiftly bypassing frozen Maran he entered the main part of the shop where Sirius walked around, browsing through Maran's creations.

"Interesting," Sirius said as he held up a shining shield before his eyes, "Your friend must be very talented to create so many artifacts. I just might have a business offer for him."

"I am sure he will be delighted to hear it," Harry spoke honestly. Maran always complained about the lack of regular clientele in new cities.

"Why are you here Sirius?" he continued with a sigh, "I told you I'll come back in two days with my final decision. I thought you could respect that. After all, not everyone is so ready to follow this outrageous idea of yours."

Sirius gave a sigh of his own, "I see you are still not happy with my plan. I can't even blame you. As you said we might be a family, but we didn't see each other for more than ten years, and to just accept my idea instantly would be asking for too much."

"It is not that Sirius," Harry said, his voice louder than necessary, "Your plan is just too risky. Remember if you fail, the two Sisters won't let you keep your leadership in Myr. They will do everything to take you out. And let's not forget about the other Free Cities that might attack you after you succeed."

"I know," Sirius' voice answered quietly, "But I can't just back down now. This is my purpose Harry."

_Why am I even trying? Well, Sirius let's hope that our magic will be enough to steer any Free Cities away from attacking us if we succeed... No, when we succeed._

"I see there is no convincing you," Harry said with a chuckle, "I will help you, just like you helped me back in the wizarding world. After all, I can't let you go to war and do something stupid."

Sirius smiled brightly and looked like he would start jumping. Thankfully he didn't and settled on a quick hug that Harry had barely any time to return.

"You don't know how glad I am," Sirius said with a short laugh, "I thought I used you away with my plan, but I just can't abandon it, Harry, I just can't."

Harry smiled, "I can see that Sirius. Now tell me why couldn't you wait one more day to hear my decision."

His godfather's face instantly darkened, "Dothraki. They raided a near settlement that fell under Myr's control and are now coming in our direction. It must be some young Khal as my scouts only reported about two thousand raiders. I don't know what the hell this idiot is doing, but I won't stand for anyone attacking my City."

Harry groaned, "Idiot indeed. From what I know Myr offers gifts for Khallasars that pass these lands."

"Apparently this Khal isn't that well informed. If he wants to attack the city then Death will be all he gets. Two thousand is far from enough to conquer Myr. Still, I wanted to ask you if you would help with the defense of the City," Sirius finally explained.

In response, Harry froze for a moment, _A battle against Dothraki... I said that I will help him so might as well start now._

**"Are you sure Harry? If you use magic in this battle it will be the end of anonymity. Yes, people might not know your name or even face, but the word will get out that a powerful Mage is living in Myr," **Ralnor's voice sounded out.

_I know Ralnor, _Harry replied as a grin stretched over his face, _But what is the point of having our abilities if we are going to hide them forever. I had years to prepare for this moment and I think I am finally ready. We are not alone Ralnor and it is time to show the world that magic is still alive. _

A chuckle reverberated through Harry's mind, **"I am happy to hear it. Just please wear a hood or glamour your face. We really don't need everyone to know how you look. Confidence is one thing, but let's not cross the edge where stupidity starts."**

_Right!_


	19. Out in the open

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If anyone is interested in joining the discord server that I created for my community, here is the link: discord.gg/b7JaQcpuc7
> 
> I usually post in on the other site I am uploading my stories and completely forgot to give you this option too.

"How much time do we have?" Harry asked as both he, Sirius and a few of his guards walked in the direction of the main gate. Only the sound of their boots hitting the ground accompanied them as according to Sirius the population living near the main gate was asked to stay in homes or for the time being go deeper into the city. A standard security measure so the military would be able to travel without getting stopped by the crowds.

"About half an hour or hour at most," Sirius answered and quickened his steps, "As soon as I received the word from my scouts, I sent the information to other Magisters and the General of my own troops."

Harry frowned, "From what I remembered the Magisters aren't supposed to have too many soldiers. Each of the Sisters mostly used mercenary companies to defend themselves. Are you sure we have enough people to match the Dothraki?"

Of course with Harry and Ralnor, they should be able to lower the enemy numbers to defeat them even with the Dothraki outnumbering Myr's forces. But, that would require the two wizards to use their full power and that wasn't something they wanted.

Revealing that they could use magic was one thing, but giving away all their abilities right away was irresponsible at best and stupid at worst.

"We do. More than enough," Sirius replied, pulling Harry out of his thoughts, "As you know I control more than a half of the city so two years back I decided that it was a high time for Myr to have its own little army. The other Magisters weren't happy, but I promised that only a small part of the troops would be under my control while the rest would be managed by the Magister council. A load of bullshit, but at least after some negotiations the others finally agreed with me."

Harry sighed, "Should have expected that... I suppose that most of this new army are slaves that couldn't find any work after being freed?"

Sirius nodded, "Aye, probably about sixty to seventy percent. The others are more experienced soldiers that either previously retired or left their mercenary company for a more steady life. We only have ten thousand soldiers currently, but like I said it should be more than enough to repel a small Khalasar even if we won't be able to use all the troops."

Harry nodded and remained silent. He wanted to ask about their plan to defend the city, but Sirius told him to wait as those were things they needed to discuss with the General and he didn't want to repeat himself.

"Here we are," Sirius announced and motioned to the tower-like building that stretched even above the City's walls. Unlike most of the buildings in Myr, this one was pretty simple, lacking any special decorations.

A low whistle left Harry's lips as he studied the tall building, "I thought I saw this from the other side of the City, but it looks more impressive up close. I don't think it was here before I left Myr for the first time."

Sirius smirked, "It was smaller back then but with enough money and some magic we created the perfect main outpost. Come follow me and better keep the hood up if you don't want everyone to know your identity yet."

Harry nodded and marched right behind his godfather through the large doors of the tower. They waved through the building, passing multiple soldiers who almost all stopped to nod to Sirius before going back to their tasks. Thankfully no one decided to do more than that and soon the duo reached another room where a tall brown-haired man, dressed in high-quality leather armor waited.

"Magister Black," the man bowed, "I am glad you are here. Our troops are ready and waiting for the final orders."

Sirius shook his head, "Ballo, how many times have I told you that you don't need to address me so formally. Especially not after everything we went through together."

The man glanced at Harry and Sirius instantly chuckled, "Don't worry about Harry here, he is family and someone who should lower the casualties on our side in the coming battle," the Black then addressed his godson, "Harry this is Ballo, the General of Myr's forces. He was one of the men that survived the fight with Dothraki and followed me since then."

Harry studied the man for a moment and sighed. Hopefully, Sirius knew who to trust.

Removing his hood the younger wizard nodded to the older man who widened his eyes a bit at Harry's appearance, "Pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise," the man returned, his tone almost questioning, "You never told me you had any family Sirius, and forgive me if I offend you, but the two of you look nothing alike."

Both wizards snorted, "It's complicated," Sirius said with a wave of his hand, "Now tell me how is the evacuation going?"

The General ran a hand through his hair, "Not as good as I would wish to. It seems that we will need to meet the Dothraki on an open field if we don't want to lose a good portion of the population outside the walls and their property. I already have five thousand soldiers waiting in front of the gates, helping with the evacuation and another five hundred stationed on the walls."

"So just like I expected," Sirius murmured, "If it wasn't for the goods we would lose by evacuating everyone, I would order the closing of the gates and waiting out the Dothraki. Unfortunately, if we won't show ourselves then the bastards will just raid the settlements around the city for anything that could be useful to them. We would lose livestock and much more... No we need to meet them just like you said, not far from the city, but enough so they will target us before the settlements."

Ballo nodded and picked up a sword lying in the corner, "As you wish Sirius, I will relay the orders and we will march in as soon as you are ready."

The man moved to leave the room, but Sirius stopped him with a raised hand, "Wait," he said before turning to Harry, "Do you have anything that could help us with dismounting the Dothraki? We may have the number advantage, but most of my troops are foot soldiers."

Harry hummed as an idea appeared in his head, _What do you think, Ralnor? Think we can do this without revealing your presence?_

Ralnor instantly received Harry's idea and sent a mental nod, **"It will be taxing, but if we used the trick we learned then no one will see me."**

Harry grinned and met Sirius' gaze, "I think I have just the thing."

* * *

"What if the Khalassar decided to turn back after raiding the small settlement?" Harry suddenly asked from the horse he was riding.

Sirius, who just like his godson traveled on a horse next to the General, shrugged, "Then we all will be happy that no more lives will be lost today. We are very close to Myr so it is not like we are wasting a lot of time coming here."

On this Harry could agree. As much as he wanted to check if his and Ralnor's trick would work, he knew that this battle would end in bloodshed and that was something Harry definitely didn't want.

Wait a second, Harry thought as something suddenly struck him, "Why the hell are you even here Sirius? I get that you fought a few battles before, but as a Magister shouldn't you stay back?"

Sirius laughed, "And why would I do that. I am not some fat bastard that can't even lift a sword, and don't worry I won't run straight into the battle like an idiot. I am not suicidal," suddenly the Black grinned, "Besides when people will hear that one of their Magisters went into battle instead of sitting on his arse, they will definitely prefer me instead of the other idiots."

Harry almost facepalmed even though he couldn't fault Sirius' reasoning. Public relations were important, especially when you planned to take over the city. That Sirius was a reckless idiot like always definitely didn't stop him from going into battle.

Harry shook his head and watched as another rider approached, "Magister Black, General Ballo," the man said, giving a quick bow, "The Khalasar is just behind the hill in front of us. Our scouts reported a few riders that spotted our army so we can expect the attack any moment."

Ballo nodded, "Thank you Captain. Have the troops assume the standard formation and wait for the sign."

The Captain nodded and rode away to set the troops. Harry observed all of this with furrowed brows. It was the first time he had a chance to be a part of a battle on that scale and even the small things like the chain of command were interesting to watch. Even though there were some similarities from Harry's time as an Auror, there were enough differences to make Harry wonder.

Of course, someone decided to stop Harry's observations.

"It is time Sorcerer," The general announced, "Even though I don't agree with placing all our lives in your hands, I hope that Sirius' faith isn't wrongly placed."

Harry wasn't one hundred percent sure of his plan either, but hey even if it didn't work as it should, they would still get a large advantage over the Dothraki. Use it well and the battle should be ten times easier.

Sirius frowned at his friend's words before quickly turning to his godson smiling, "Don't listen to him, Ballo is always a bit skeptical when it comes to magic... And well, what you had proposed goes far beyond anything I could do."

Harry nodded without a word and rode forward, passing the rows of soldiers. Maybe he couldn't read minds anymore, but just from feeling the atmosphere around him, Harry knew that the majority of the army was nervous about the upcoming battle.

_Don't worry, even if I can't save all of you, I can at least make sure that most of you come back home._

Gripping the reins tighter, Harry sped up to put a bit more distance between himself and the army. The sandy plains and a small hill, the only thing separating him from the incoming Khalassar.

The sorcerer sighed and jumped down from his horse, "Go on. I won't need you anymore," he mumbled to the animal. Clapping it on its side he watched as the horse ran back towards the gathered army. No need to sacrifice more lives than necessary, the area around Harry would drink enough blood today to last for years.

Crouching down Harry slowed his breathing and listened as his ears picked up on the sound everyone was waiting for.

Hooves hitting the hard ground and screams of the Dothraki riders. Bloody bastards couldn't stop themselves from shouting random things. Oh well, who was he to judge?

Harry threw his gaze to the hill and watched as the Dothraki descended like a swarm. A swarm that wanted to destroy everything on their path and currently Harry was the one separating them from their target.

_Ready?_

Harry could feel the grin on Ralnor's face when the ancient sorcerer replied, **"You don't even have to ask. Let's make them regret ever coming near this City."**

The screams got louder and when Harry's body could feel the vibrations going through the earth from the incoming swarm, he touched the ground with both his hands and murmured, "Do it."

* * *

During his long life — Well maybe not that long if you consider people like Dumbledore — Sirius experienced many things. Muggles creating things without magic that the wizarding world would never expect, a war that killed more people than Sirius would like to admit, magical feats he thought were impossible, and the love of family and friends. Those things made life interesting, made it worth living.

Yes, if one asked Sirius, he would say that if he ignored his stay in Azkaban and the few first years in Essos, his life was a decent one. Decent, not good, not with all the loss he went through. It was much too early too to call his life a good one even if Harry's reappearance definitely improved it a lot.

Now as Sirius watched his godson stand between his army and the Dothraki, he really hoped that this would be another case where he lived through the impossible. He trusted Harry, more than he probably should have. But now as he stared at the hundreds of riders approaching his only family, Sirius could admit with an open heart that his faith waned a bit.

It was one man against hundreds after all.

"Come on Harry," Sirius whispered under his breath, "You defeated Voldemort, became a beacon of hope for the wizarding world, and went through more than any human should. What are a couple of hundreds of savage riders?"

As if his godson heard him, Harry looked straight in Sirius' direction, smirked, and instantly crouched down with his hands touching the ground.

Sirius straightened and squinted his eyes when he noticed a faint bluish aura covering Harry's hands, _What are you really planning Harry? This can't be what you showed me and Ballo._

The aura extended upwards and soon took over all of Harry's arms. Sirius held his breath as the Dothraki got closer and closer, their screams echoing in his head.

Maybe four hundred feet between them and Harry.

Two hundred.

One hundred.

And then it happened.

The earth around Harry came alive, magic swallowing the ground and extending hundreds of feet in every direction, except in Sirius' army. Whatever rusty senses Sirius possessed that could feel magic, suddenly screamed. Telling, no, begging him to get as far away from what Harry just created.

The sands became whirls of death that tried to consume everything that dared to step on them. The hard ground split open like maws trying to devour anything stupid to approach it. And the stone pillars... those things would get forever imprinted in Sirius' memory.

Like snakes that rose from the deepest hells, the pillars rushed in every direction piercing everything in their way. Armor was crushed, skin punctured and blood spilled like endless rivers.

And Harry?

The young sorcerer that created the sea of Death crouched in the middle of it with stone walls covering him from every direction.

Sirius was sure that his mouth was currently hanging open as he stared at the Dothraki getting swallowed by the earth. Bodies upon bodies falling to the ground as more and more earth magic was released upon them. Most were lucky to survive their passage through the sea — _Ironic_— Harry created, but their mounts weren't spared.

"S—Sirius, are we seeing the same thing?" Ballo's stuttering voice brought Sirius out from his shock, but the man didn't really know how to respond. How could he? Harry told them about his plan, but this? This was far beyond everything they could ever expect.

"Seeing? Yes. Believing? Not likely," Sirius murmured, his voice loud enough for the general to hear him, "Signal the man Ballo. I am sure we won't be getting any better signs than this. Have soldiers ready on our sides, it won't take long before the Dothraki will try to get around this. Harry's field is massive, but even he has his limits... And please for the love of god, make sure that no one will even try to get close to what Harry created."

Ballo nodded slowly and galloped away with his eyes still firmly watching the slaughter happening. Not that Sirius could fault him as his own eyes were still glued to the half-dome that protected his godson.

Sirius thought his magic strong, but Harry showed him that this world really worked by different rules. Or maybe Harry was just an exception from the rules like Dumbledore or Voldemort were in his old world.

The Black shook his head. Did it really matter? Harry just gave them a chance and he should stop wasting it with his staring.

_Lily, James, you might not be happy about what we became, but I hope that you both are at least proud of how far we came_, Sirius thought as he too moved towards the battle.

* * *

They learned this trick a few months back, trying to utilize their abilities as one unit without the need for Ralnor to manifest his entire body. They tried channeling Ralnor's pure power through Harry, without success. Ralnor tried to somehow transfer his abilities to Harry, also without success.

In the end, they both realized that they were going about it the wrong way. Why have Ralnor give his power to Harry when they just should work together, just as they wanted. And so the idea was born. For Ralnor to manifest himself around Harry, like a small layer of armor that would be almost unnoticeable.

With this combination they fought in one body, both having some semblance of control. Even though they still couldn't utilize each other's abilities and the transformation tried out both of them, in situations like that it was bloody useful.

Harry knew what was happening around him, but it was Ralnor who controlled it. The ground moving in every direction, seeking anything alive to satiate its hunger to destroy, to kill.

They held the magic for another few minutes as screams of battle and death reached them from every side. Both wanted to join the fight but knew that what they were currently doing was more important.

"That's enough," Harry rasped out, the glow around his arms disappearing instantly, "Hopefully we did enough."

**"We did Harry, we definitely did," **Ralnor answered, and even though he didn't have a physical body, his voice was as tired as Harry's, **"If we held the magic any longer you wouldn't be able to join the battle... So rest for a minute and then go, finish what we started."**

Harry nodded and sat down on the ground. Taking in a deep breath he finally felt his heartbeat slow a bit. Good sign, it had been a while since Harry released so much magic in a simple act, and truthfully neither he nor Ralnor was sure how his body would take it.

It definitely took it better than they expected and Harry would bet that his deeper connection to magic due to the potion from Stygai helped. Now he just needed to survive the battle and then he could get some deserved rest.

"Alright let's go," Harry whispered and drew his magic friendly shortsword, _Give me an opening_, Harry sent to his companion.

Getting a mental nod, Harry watched as the wall in front of him crumbled to dust revealing the battlefield they created.

Just like Harry expected the sea of Death, he and Ralnor created was painted red. Out of the ground, bodies of humans and horses grew, some eaten halfway, while others only had their legs sticking out. In other parts of the field long pillars of stone grew in every direction, bodies speared on them every few feet with their blood still seeping on the ground.

Such was the power of an experienced earth sorcerer who didn't even have his own body.

Harry sighed and scanned the battlefield. No one dared to take a step into Ralnor's creation anymore and all of the fighting was happening on the sides of the field.

He could see it, the Dorhraki's numbers were low and Harry probably wouldn't be wrong to think that at least a few hundred lost their lives in the first charge. Myr's army was winning and it wouldn't take much longer for the bigger army to overwhelm their adversary.

Harry shook his head and rushed towards the first bigger fighting group he noticed. He could think about the battle after it ended.

The sorcerer gripped his sword tightly and grabbed his imperfect wand with his left hand. He only required it for some basic spells he already mastered wandless, but he would never say no to the additional power that came with the possession of a wand.

Harry waved his wand with a speed that required years of practice and soon listened to the screams as the first spells reached their targets. Exploding curses, cutting, and banishing charms, some of the most basic spells, yet some of the deadliest.

The group of at least twenty Dothraki that lost their horses to Ralnor's attack were reduced to less than a half of the number after Harry's onslaught. Some of those that survived were missing limbs or had cuts all over their bodies.

And yet a few of them stood right back up, fury shining in their eyes when they finally noticed Harry.

"Maegi!" they shouted as one unit and this was the only warning Harry got before the remaining Dothraki sprinted towards him.

The sorcerer in question raised an eyebrow as he prepared his magic for another battle. Wasn't maegi a term used for women who used blood magic? Well, Harry was neither a woman nor used anything related to blood. Still, Harry couldn't really fault them. His whole body was covered and he doubted that Dothraki knew much about magic to distinguish it.

Harry sighed and pointed his sword in the Dothraki's direction. The tip of the sword glowed blue and was soon covered in a thin layer of ice.

Without command, the spike of ice shot from the sword with more following a second after. The Dothraki definitely didn't expect another magical attack so soon and so another five bodies hit the ground, their torsos covered in glistening ice.

The three remaining Dothraki proved their ability to use their brain and grabbed their fallen comrades to use them as shields.

Harry clicked his tongue and stopped the ice attack. Instead, his left hand began to gather more and more magic, and when the Dothraki were no more than ten feet away Harry threw the gathered energy that transformed into a ball of fire. No shielding from an attack like that.

The ball of fire landed right in front of the remaining Dothraki and exploded in a fiery inferno, eating the men alive.

Harry sighed, now he needed to find the Khal and his blood riders, with their deaths the battle should be instantly won. Or maybe it wouldn't, Harry's knowledge about Dothraki culture was shaky at best.

The sorcerer wiped the sweat that gathered on his forehead and ran forward. Target acquired.

* * *

Harry fought through tens of Dothraki, leaving only a trail of bodies behind him. He helped wherever he could, throwing magic in every direction to stop more Myrish soldiers from dying for defending their home.

His body ached, magic screamed at him to take a break, to let it recover for even a minute. But Harry couldn't stop now.

His sword deflected yet another strike aimed at Harry's neck, while his right hand covered in ice pierced the offender right into the heart. Harry knew that this battle was still quite small when he compared it to some of the wars he read about, but at least now he knew how one's mindset changed during a battle like that.

To push forward, to survive, and come back home by whatever means necessary.

Harry pushed the Dothraki's body away as yet another soldier thanked him for the assistance. This action always surprised Harry a little, from what he gathered, magic wasn't that well received in those parts of Essos, and yet none of the soldiers tried to attack or run away from him. It seemed that saving one's life was enough to change their opinion on magic... Or maybe those people were just more accepting.

Whatever the reason was, Harry didn't care for it as he finally spotted his target.

A tall and muscular man with a braid longer than any other Dothraki stood in a field of bodies facing yet another squad of Myrish soldiers. Of course, the Khal wasn't alone and had multiple of his own men by his side already engaged in battle.

Still, there was one very important fact about their group... All of them were horseless.

_Damn Ralnor, you really did a number on them, _Harry thought as he dashed forward and instantly noticed another familiar face.

"General Ballo!" Harry shouted when the general blocked the Khal's strike with his shield, "Need some assistance?"

The general pushed his adversary away and his eyes widened a bit when he noticed Harry just standing there, "By all means Sorcerer, he is yours. The Khal might be young, but he is fucking good."

That Harry didn't doubt as he peeked at the pile of bodies behind the Khal. The Dothraki leader was definitely skilled, but Harry had no plans of crossing blades with him.

Instead, Harry let all of his remaining magic flow into his short-sword, and with a single movement, he stabbed it into the ground.

"Get back General!" Harry shouted and released his hold on the magic.

The ground rumbled and cracks spread across it, heading right towards the Khal who was standing there probably confused by the sudden retreat of his enemy.

The ground shook once more, but this time no one was prepared for the dozens of ice spikes to erupt from every crack. The Khal and a few other Dothraki didn't even have a second to think before spikes erupted from every part of their bodies.

The entire field grew silent and Harry fell to a crouch, all of his energy spent.

A hand landed on his shoulder, but Harry didn't turn as the person instantly spoke, "You did more than enough Sorcerer, gather your breath. We will finish here."

And so Harry did, trusting the General, Ralnor, and his own senses to protect him. Well, at least he didn't fall unconscious eh?

* * *

"Damn Harry," Sirius exclaimed when they finally settled in the Magister's study, "I saw many things in my life, but this shite I will remember forever. How the hell did you even manage that?"

It had only been a few hours since the battle finished and Myr only lost about two hundred or so soldiers, a much better outcome than what anyone expected. The Dothraki scattered, those who ran away most likely would try to become a Khal of the survivors. Not that there were many of them. Ralnor's attack and the Khal's idiocy ensured this.

Harry groaned from his seat, his body still aching all over, "The earth manipulation was mostly Ralnor. I only supplied the magic. And to be honest we didn't expect that it would work so well."

Sirius snorted, "Yeah right... You two probably killed or crippled about half of their numbers. I am not sure that Dumbledore could do something like this. The old man was powerful and I would never cross wands with him in a duel, but manipulating nature like that?"

The younger wizard shook his head, "Magic works differently here Sirius, you know it. Usage of more primal aspects like elements is much easier than anything we could do back home if you have the affinity. We can't compare what I and Dumbledore did as we pretty much are using different magic," suddenly Harry straightened a bit, "Speaking of, how is the public taking an appearance of a wizard."

"Can't really tell you," Sirius replied, "Only a few hours passed since the battle so the word didn't spread that far yet. Give it a day or two and then we will know."

_Right_, Harry thought. It was much too early for a public opinion to form. Harry really wanted to know how people would react, after all this would affect a lot of his plans, Sirius' too. After all, they both had magic and their conquest of Disputed Lands wouldn't work without some sorcery.

"So what now? We just wait and then move forward depending on the public?"

Sirius shrugged, "Pretty much. I will need to deal with some issues that will definitely arise after the battle, but apart from that we wait and in two days we attend the Magister council."

Harry instantly began to wave his hands in front of him, "No, no, no Sirius! I can fight for you, I will be there for you as family, but there is no chance I am dealing with politics. Hell no!"

His bastard of a godfather only grinned, "But Harry, even if you don't want to, you will be dragged into politics after what you have done today. And well, I have the perfect idea how to use it."

Harry glared at Sirius for a moment before slumping in his chair. Of course, his godfather was right. He single handedly — No one knew about Ralnor after all — got rid of almost half of the Dothraki. There was no chance of him escaping, at least, some small part of politics after that. At least not if he wanted to stay in Myr and help Sirius.

"You know what Sirius?" Harry asked, his tone completely defeated, "Fuck you."

The bastard only laughed.


End file.
